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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF THE DELEGATES FROM GEORGIA 

TO THE CONTINENTAL 

CONGRESS 



CHARLES C. JONES, JR., LL.D. 

AUTHOR OF "the HISTORY OFGEORGIA," " NEGRO MYTHS FROM 
THE GEORGIA COAST," ETC. 



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BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

1 891 



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Copyright, 1891, 
By CHARLES C. JONES, JR. 

All rights reserved. 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S. A. 
Printed by II. 0. Honghton JSCompany. 



S'^ 



6ci' 



To 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET, M. D., LL. D., 

OF NEW YORK CITY, 

WHOSE INTELLIGENT, GENEROUS, AND INDEFATIGABLE 

RESEARCHES AND ACQUISITIONS 

HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH IN RESCUING FROM OBLIVION 

NAMES AND EVENTS 

MEMORABLE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, 

ARE CORDIALLY INSCRIBED. 



CONTENTS. 



FAQE 

BENJAMIN ANDREW 1 

ABRAHAM BALDWIN 5 

NATHAN BROWNSON H 

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH 14 

JOSEPH. CLAY 28 

WILLIAM FEW 34 

WILLIAM GIBBONS , . . . : 40 

JAMES GUNN 44 

BUTTON GWINNETT 48 

JOHN HABERSHAM 68 

JOSEPH HABERSHAM 80 

LYMAN HALL 88 

JOHN HOUSTOUN 106 

WILLIAM HOUSTOUN 118 

RICHARD HOWLEY 120 

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES 124 

EDWARD LANGWORTHY 137 

LACHLAN McLNTOSH. 139 

WILLIAM PIERCE 155 

SAMUEL STIRK 160 

EDWARD TELFAIR 161 

GEORGE WALTON 168 

JOHN WALTON 199 

JOSEPH WOOD 201 

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY 203 



PREFACE. 



In the retaliatory acts passed by the Royalist Assem- 
bly which convened in Savannah in 1780, the follow- 
ing members from Georgia of the Continental Congress 
were attainted of high treason ; their property, real and 
personal, was vested in the Crown ; and they were de- 
clared incapable of holding or exercising any office of 
trust, honor, or profit : — 

" John Houstoun, Rebel Governor. 
Lachlan McIntosh, Rebel General. 
Geokge Walton, Member of Rebel Congress. 
Joseph Clay, Rebel Paymaster-General. 
N. Wymberley Jones, Speaker of Rebel Assembly. 
Edward Telfair, Member of Rebel Congress. 
Richard Howley, Rebel Governor. 
William Few, Rebel Counselor. 
Edward Langworthy, Rebel Delegate. 
Joseph Wood, Member of the Rebel Congress. 
Benjamin Andrew, President of the Rebel Council. 
Nathan Brownson, Member of Rebel Congress. 
Lyman Hall, Member of the Rebel Congress. 
Joseph Habersham, Rebel Colonel. 
John Habersham, Rebel Major. 
William Gibbons, the elder. Rebel Counselor. 
Samuel Stirk, Rebel Secretary." 



vi PREFACE. 

Eight more there are — most of them subsequently 
elected — whose names do not appear upon this black 
list. This legislation had been provoked by, and 
was in retaliation for, an act passed on the 1st of 
March, 1778, by the Republican General Assembly of 
Georgia, by the terms of which various parties who 
clave to the fortunes of the Crown were attainted of 
high treason, their property, both real and personal, 
was confiscated to the State, and boards of commis- 
sioners were appointed for the purpose of selling their 
estates and covering the proceeds into the public 
treasury. 

Behold the fearful condition of affairs then dominant 
in Georgia ! Royalists and Republicans contending 
for the mastery, not only with arms, but each by 
solemn legislation denouncing the other as traitors, 
and declaring private property a spoil to that govern- 
ment which could first lay hands upon it ! Surely no 
darker picture was ever painted in the history of civil 
wars, the most bloody and unrelenting of all strifes. 
The devastating tread of contending armies — pushed 
backwards and forwards over the face of a smitten 
country, crushing the life out of habitations and filling 
the land with marks of desolation and the scars of 
battle — is terrible ; but far more severe is that 
fratricidal conflict which disrupts the ties of blood, 
unseats mercy, dethrones humanity, abolishes the right 
to private property, and gives the region over to 



PREFACE.'' Vn 

general confiscation, plunder, and murder. Other 
States there were within whose borders were heard, 
during the progress of the Revolution, the thunders 
of broader battles, but truly none can be named in 
which the calamities of a divided government and 
the horrors of internecine dissensions were more pro- 
nounced. 

At that epoch of distraction and peril, there was 
a deal of courage and sacrifice involved in accepting 
the position of member from Georgia of the Continen- 
tal Congress. 

Of all the English Provinces in America, Georgia 
had least cause to revolt against the Mother Country. 
Since her settlement, that Colony had received, by 
grant of Parliament, nearly £200,000, besides gener- 
ous bounties lavished in aid of silk-culture and agri- 
cultural products, and various private benefactions. 
This fact weighed with no little force upon the minds 
of many ; and Governor Wright sought every oppor- 
tunity to inculcate gratitude towards a government 
whose paternal interest had been so kindly manifested. 
For years he presided over the Province with im- 
partiality, wisdom, and firmness. Through his watch- 
ful care the Colony had been delivered from the 
horrors of Indian warfare and guided into the paths 
of peace and plenty. By his negotiations millions of 
acres were added to the public domain. Diligent in 
the discharge of his official duties, strong in his 



Viii PREFACE. 

resolves, just in the exemse of his powers, loyal in 
his opinions, courteous in his intercourse, thrifty in 
the conduct of his private affairs, and exhibiting the 
operations of a vigorous and well-balanced judgment, 
he secured the respect and the affection of his people. 
Although differing from many of the inhabitants upon 
the political questions which were then dividing the 
public mind, he never suffered himself to be betrayed 
into acts of violence or of revenge. He preferred to 
counsel, to enlighten, and to exhort. It excites no 
surprise, therefore, that his influence — vigorously 
exerted in encouraging loyalty to his royal master 
and submission to the acts of Parliament — should 
have had great weight in retarding the progress of 
rebel thought, and in restraining Georgia, at the out- 
set, from casting her lot with her sister American 
Colonies, and commissioning delegates through whom 
she might participate in the adoption of measures 
which precipitated the war of the Revolution. The 
apparent tardiness and hesitancy on the part of the 
Province in joining the Confederation at the inception 
of those movements which culminated in a declaration 
of independence may be further excused or accounted 
for when we remember that she was, of all the origi- 
nal Thirteen Colonies, the youngest and least prepared 
for the struggle, and when we recall the fact that 
Schovilites, leagued with Indians, were scourging her 
borders, and awakening, in the breasts even of the 



PREFACE. IX 

most patriotic and daring, gravest apprehensions for 
the safety of their wives and children. In the lan- 
guage of Captain McCall, " The charge of inactiv- 
ity vanishes when the sword and hatchet are held 
over the heads of the actors to compel them to lie 
still." 

While the record of the services of the members 
from Georgia in the Continental Congress may not 
be as brilliant or as valuable as that of some of 
the Delegates from other Colonies (with the exception 
of the Reverend Doctor Zubly, and possibly of General 
Gunn, who never took his seat), they were all good and 
true men, capable and most earnest in the support of 
the common cause. Many of them were gentlemen of 
high culture, superior education, and attractive social 
and political virtues. Fourteen of them, in one capa- 
city or another, bore arms in the struggle for inde- 
pendence ; ten were members of the legal profession ; 
six were merchants ; three were physicians ; one was 
a clergyman ; and not less than ten were interested 
in agricultural operations. Engraved portraits have 
been made of Abraham Baldwin, Archibald Bulloch, 
Joseph Clay, William Few, Button Gwinnett, John 
Habersham, Joseph Habersham, Lyman Hall, Noble 
Wymberley Jones, Lachlan Mcintosh, and George 
Walton. Of the others, so far as we can discover, 
no likenesses exist. 

After the lapse of so many years, and in the absence 



X PREFACE. 

of recorded memories, it is difficult, nay impossible, 
to present as full and accurate sketches as we would 
wish. Having, however, utilized all the materials at 
command, we commit this manuscript to the printer 
in the hope that what we have attempted for Georgia 
may be better accomplished by others in behalf of 
the remaining commonwealths associated in the brave 
and patriotic Confederation of " The Original Thir- 
teen." 

Augusta, Georgia, 1891. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



BENJAMIN ANDREW. 

Born in Dorchester, South Carolina, about 1730, 
Mr. Andrew led the life of a planter. He came of 
that sturdy Puritan congregation which, abandoning 
England in 1630, after a residence of some sixty-five 
years in Massachusetts, removed to South Carolina 
and formed a settlement on the northeast bank of 
the Ashley River about eighteen miles above Charles 
Town. In 1754 Mr. Andrew, bringing his family with 
him, left Dorchester in South Carolina, and made a 
new home in the Midway District, subsequently con- 
stituting a part of St. John's Parish in the Colony of 
Georgia. Here he became the owner of a swamp 
plantation and engaged in the cultivation of rice. 

In the preliminary discussions and demonstrations 
which eventuated in a declaration of independence on 
the part of the parish of St. John and afterwards of 
the Colony of Georgia, Mr. Andrew allied himself with 
the revolutionists, and, in company with Lyman Hall, 
Button Gwinnett, Daniel Roberts, Samuel Stevens, 
Joseph Wood, Daniel Baker, and other local patriots, 
was earnest in the support of the rights of the Ameri- 
can provinces in their struggle with Great Britain for 
liberation from kingly rule. 

In the spring of 1773 William Bartram, the natural- 



2 BIOGRArillCAL SKETCHES. 

ist, who, at the reqnes^f Dr. Fothergill, of London, 
had undertaken a visit to the Floridas "for the dis- 
covery of rare and useful productions of nature, chiefly 
in the vegetable kingdom," gives us this glimpse of 
the home of Mr. Andrew, then not many miles distant 
from Midway Meeting House in St. John's Parish. "In 
the evening," writes Mr. Bartram, " I arrived at the 
seat of the Hon. B. Andrew's, Esq , who received and 
entertained me in every respect as a worthy gentle- 
man would a stranger, that is, with hearty welcome, 
plain but plentiful board, free conversation, and liber- 
ality of sentiment. I spent the evening very agree- 
ably, and the day following (for I was not permitted 
to depart sooner) 1 viewed with pleasure this gentle- 
man's exemplary improvements in agriculture, partic- 
ularly in the growth of rice, and in his machines for 
shelling that valuable grain, which stands in the water 
almost from the time it is sown until within a few days 
before it is reaped, when they draw off the water by 
sluices, which ripens it all at once; and when the heads, 
or panicles, are dry ripe, it is reaped, and left standing 
in the field in small ricks until the straw is quite dry, 
when it is hauled and stacked in the barnyard. The 
machines for cleaning the rice are worked by the force 
of water. They stand on the great reservoir which 
contains the waters that flood the rice-fields below. 

" Towards the evening we made a little party at fish- 
ing. We chose a shaded retreat in a beautiful grove 
of magnolias, myrtles, and sweet bay trees, which were 
left standing on the bank of a fine creek, that from 
this place took a slow serpentine course through the 
plantation. We presently took some fish, one kind of 
which is very beautiful ; they call it the red-belly. It 



BENJAMIN ANDREW. 3 

is as large as a man's hand, nearly oval and thin, be- 
ing compressed on each side; the tail is beautifully 
formed ; the top of the head and back of an olive 
green, besprinkled with russet specks ; the sides of a 
sea-green, inclining to azure, insensibly blended with 
the olive above, and beneath lightens to a silvery 
white or pearl color, elegantly powdered with specks 
of the finest green, russet, and gold ; the belly is of a 
bright scarlet red, or vermilion, darting up rays or 
fiery streaks into the pearl on each side ; the ultimate 
angle of the branchiostega extends backwards with a 
long spatula, ending with a round or oval particoloured 
spot representing the eye in the long feathers of a pea- 
cock's train, verged round with a thin flame-coloured 
membrane, and appears like a brilliant ruby fixed on 
the side of the fish ; the eyes are large, encircled with 
a fiery iris ; they are a voracious fish, and are easily 
caught with a suitable bait. 

" The next morning I took leave of this worthy 
family, and sat off for the settlements on the Ala- 
tamaha, still pursuing the high road for Fort Barring- 
ton, till towards noon, when I turned off to the left, 
following the road to Darian, a settlement on the river 
twenty miles lower down and near the coast." ^ 

We offer no apology for making this quotation, be- 
cause it conveys a pleasant impression of person and 
place. Of the first Executive Council convened upon 
the election of John Adam Treutlen as governor of 
Georgia in 1777, Benjamin Andrew was chosen presi- 
dent, with Samuel Stirk as clerk. Three years after- 
wards Mr. Andrew was elected a member of the Con- 

^ Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, etc., etc., by Wil- 
liam Bartram, pp. 11, 12. London, 1792. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



tinental Congress. His^^ociates ^vere Edward Telfair, 
George Walton, Lyman Hall, and William Few. Upon 
the conclusion of the war of the Revolution Mr. An- 
drew became an associate justice for the county of 
Liberty, and in that capacity sat for several terms 
with Chief Justice Walton. 

One of his sons bore arms in the primal contest 
for freedom, and subsequently removed from Liberty 
County to Washington, Wilkes County, where, on the 
3d of May, 1794, a son was born unto him, — James 
Osgood Andrew by name, — who acquired some promi- 
nence as a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. The honorable Benjamin Andrew died in Lib- 
erty County, Georgia, toward the close of the last 
century. 



ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 

When his brother-in-law, the poet Joel Barlow, in /< 

speaking of the subject of this sketch, remarked that 
" the annals of our country have rarely been adorned 
with a character more venerable, or a life more use- 
ful than that of Abraham Baldwin,'' he indulged in no 
flattery, but uttered a well merited compliment. Of 
all the members from Georgia of the Continental Con- 
gress, none may be named more scholarly in his attain- 
ments, more conscientious in the discharge of duty, 
more observant of the obligations of the hour, or more 
useful in the aims and scope of his labors. His chosen 
way of life lay not across the " weltering field of the 
tombless dead." On the contrary, his path to prefer- 
ment was dignified by a dispassionate consideration of 
grave political problems, — by a calm ascertainment 
and vindication of the constitutional rights of indi- 
viduals, states, and nation, — by statesmanlike presen- 
tation of the true theory of republicanism in America, 
and by the promulgation and maintenance of schemes 
which aimed at the promotion of universal justice, the 
sustentation of liberty, the higher education of the 
masses, and the elevation and the happiness of his fel- 
low-man. His mission was exalted, and to its accom- 
plishment he brought a pure heart, — chastened by 
the influence of a holy religion, — a mind well stored 
with the learning of the age, much native ability, and 
tireless industry. Born in Guilford, Connecticut, on 



6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the 6th of November, }0^^, his collegiate course was 
pursued at Yale College, whence he graduated in 1772. 
From 1775 to 1779 he held a tutor's position in that 
institution. During the last three years of this term, 
however, and until the close of the revolutionary war 
he served in the field in the capacity of a chaplain. 
Upon the consummation of peace, abandoning the 
clerical profession, he became a student of law. It was 
upon the recommendation of General Nathanael Greene 
that Mr. Baldwin removed from Connecticut and ac- 
quired citizenship in Georgia early in 1784. Shortly 
after his arrival in Savannah he was there called to 
the Bar. Three months afterwards, he was elected a 
member of the Georgia Legislature, where he origi- 
nated the plan of the University of Georgia, drew its 
charter, secured from the State an endowment of forty 
thousand acres of land, and indicated the catholic lines 
along which that valuable institution of learning has 
ever since moved. From the preamble to this charter 
which, as a whole, has evoked encomiums from the 
learned and the virtuous, we make the following ex- 
tract as illustrating the wisdom and patriotism of Mr. 
Baldwin : " As it is the distinguishing happiness of 
free g-overnments that civil order should be the result 
of choice and not of necessity, and the common wishes 
of the people become the laws of the land, their public 
prosperity and even existence very much depend 
upon suitably forming the minds and morals of their 
citizens. When the minds of the people in general are 
viciously disposed and unprincipled, and their conduct 
disorderly, a free government will be attended with 
greater confusions and evils more horrid than the wild, 
uncultivated state of nature. It can only be happy 



ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 7 

when the public principles and opinions are properly 
directed, and their manners regulated. This is an in- 
fluence beyond the reach of laws and punishments, 
and can be claimed only by religion and education. 
It should therefore be among the first objects of those 
who wish well to the national prosperity to encourage 
and support the principles of religion and morality, 
and early to place the youth under the forming hand 
of society, that by instruction they may be moulded 
to the love of virtue and good order. Sending them 
abroad to other countries for their education will not 
answer these purposes, is too humiliating an acknow- 
ledgment of the ignorance or inferiority of our own, 
and will always be the cause of so great foreign at- 
tachments that upon principles of policy it is inad- 
missible." 

The State of Georgia was then in a most impover- 
ished condition. The losses and distractions experi- 
enced during the war just ended had been immense. 
In the face of every retarding circumstance Mr. Bald- 
win compassed this important measure ; and the Uni- 
versity of Georgia is to-day a living monument of his 
wisdom, prescience, and patriotism. The munificence 
of the Hon. John Milledge, and the cooperative aid of 
Governor John Houstoun and the honorables James 
Habersham, William Few, Joseph Clay, William Hous- 
toun, and Nathan Brownson, were potent factors in the 
consummation of this educational scheme, which for a 
century has proven of incalculable benefit to the com- 
monwealth of Georgia. Had he performed no public 
duty other than this, Mr. Baldwin's title to the grati- 
tude of succeeding generations would have been un- 
questioned. 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCFIES. 

His political advancement was rapid. In 1785 he 
was elected by the Legislature to a seat in the Conti- 
nental Congress, and from that time until the day of 
his death he remained in the public service. When 
he died, four years of his second term as United States 
Senator from Georgia had not expired. 

Of the convention which, in 1787, framed the Con- 
stitution of the United States, he was a very active 
member. It is stated on good authority that some of 
the essential clauses of that memorable instrument 
were formulated by him. 

*' His manner of conducting business," says the au- 
thor of the sketch which appears in the fourth volume 
of " The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished 
Americans," " was worthy of the highest commenda- 
tion ; he may have wanted ambition to make himself 
brilliant, but he never wanted industry to make him- 
self useful. His oratory was simple, forcible, convin- 
cing. His maxim of never asserting anything but 
what he believed to be true could not fail to be useful 
in carrying conviction to others. Patient of contradic- 
tion, and tolerant to the wildest opinions, he could be 
as indulgent to the errors of judgment in other men 
as if he had stood the most in need of such indulgence 
for himself." 

Mr. Baldwin was a Federalist. So manly was his 
course in Congress and in the Senate of the United 
States, so conservative were his views, so conscientious 
was his conduct in the discussion of all constitutional 
questions, and so steadfast his adherence to what he 
cenceived to be the cardinal principles of government, 
that he acquired and retained in a wonderful degree 
the confidence of the party to which he was attached, 



ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 9 

the respect of those who held different notions with 
regard to the poHtical questions which then agitated 
the country, and the approbation of his constituents. 
Of him it has been truthfully said that he " died with 
the consciousness of having faithfully and fearlessly 
filled the measure of his public duties." 

In private life he was correct in all his habits, and 
given to benevolent deeds. Never having married, he 
expended his accumulations in assisting worthy young 
men in acquiring an education and in establishing 
them in business. In this reij;ard his charities were 
akin to those which so beautified the life of Alexander 
II. Stephens. Upon the death of his father in 1787, 
he assumed in large measure tlie payment of his debts 
and the maintenance and education of his six orphan 
children. So far as the record stands, the reputation 
of Mr. Baldwin for purity of character, honesty of pur- 
pose and act, fidelity to trust reposed, and genuine 
benevolence, is most admirable. 

To Connecticut is Georgia greatly indebted for Ly- 
man Hall and Abraham Baldwin. Of their adopted 
citizenship she is justly proud,' and in token of her 
appreciation of their virtuous lives and useful services, 
she perpetuates their names by two of her counties. 

Mr. Baldwin died in harness as a Senator from 
Georgia, and at the national capital, on the 4th of 
March, 1807. His last illness was short, and his re- 
mains were interred by the side of his friend and for- 
mer colleague General James Jackson, whom, just one 
year before, he had followed to the tomb. Although 
his funeral occurred two days after the adjournment of 
Congress, many members remained to testify, by their 
presence, their personal appreciation of the great loss 



10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

which had been sust^pied by State and nation. In 
1801, and also in 1802, Mr. Baldwin served as presi- 
dent ^jro tempore of the Senate ; and while in Congress 
he voted in favor of locatino- the seat of o;overnment 
on the Potomac.^ 

^ For a fuller sketch of the Hon. Abraham Baldwin, see volume iv. of 
The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Philadeli)hla, 
1839. 



NATHAN BROWNSON. 

Tt was upon the invitation of Dr. John Dunwody 
that Dr. Brownson became a resident of St. John's 
Parish in the Province of Georgia, and there entered 
upon the practice of his profession. We are told that 
he graduated at Yale College in 1761, and that he 
received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from some 
Northern institution ; but we are not informed of what 
colony he was a native. Arriving in St. John's Parish, 
he purchased a small plantation scarcely two miles dis- 
tant from the present village of Riceboro, in Liberty 
County, where he builded a home, and with a few 
slaves began the cultivation of rice. His reputation 
in the community as a man of intelligence, of sterling 
qualities, and of excellent professional attainments, was 
quickly established. At an early date he manifested 
a lively interest in public affairs, espousing the patriot 
cause. 

Of the Provincial Congress which assembled in Sa- 
vannah on the 4th of July, 1775, he was a member 
accredited from the parish of St. John. 

Twice was he honored by Georgia with a seat in 
the Continental Congress ; and on the 16th of August, 
1781, he was elected governor of that commonwealth. 
The political skies were then brightening. Augusta 
had been rescued from the possession of the enemy, 
and renewed efforts were being made for the recovery 
of other portions of the State. 



12 Bior.RAPiiiCAL ski-:tches. 

Eight days after hi^^d action into office, Governor 
Brownson, with the intention of strengthening the 
manhood of Georgia, issued a prochimation requiring 
all persons who considered themselves citizens of the 
commonwealth to return to their homes within speci- 
fied periods, under penalty of being subjected to the 
payment of a treble tax to be levied upon ail lands 
owned by them within the limits of the State. Many 
wanderers were- thus recalled, who, having forsaken 
their plantations in Georgia, had sought refuge in the 
Carolinas and in Virginia. The salary then allowed 
the governor was at the rate of £500 per annum. 

On the 6th of June, 1782, he was appointed Deputy 
Purveyor for the Southern Hospitals, and at one time 
during the war he served in the capacity of surgeon 
in the Continental army. 

In the establishment of the state university he took 
a lively interest. He was named among the grantees 
to whom Georgia made cession of forty thousand acres 
of land for educational purposes, and he was one of 
the original trustees appointed, in 1785, to promote 
the establishment of an institution of learning. He 
was twice Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
and in 1791 presided over the State Senate. Of the 
convention which, in 1788, ratified the Constitution 
of the United States, and of the convention which, in 
1789, amended the Constitution of Georgia, he was a 
member. He was also a commissioner on behalf of 
the State to superintend the erection of the public 
buildings at Louisville, in Jefferson County, prepara- 
tory to the removal of the seat of government from 
Augusta to that place. 

It will thus be perceived that Dr. Brownson was 



NATHAN BROWNSON. 13 

honored with many public trusts. In the discharge 
of them all he was capable and most conscientious. 
There was scarcely any time when his attention was 
not directed to the performance of some important 
duty confided to him by his fellow-citizens. 

He died upon his plantation in Liberty County, on 
the 6th of November, 1796. Among the purest pa- 
triots and most useful citizens of this region will he 
always be numbered. The venerable Major Andrew 
Maybank, who was personally acquainted with Dr. 
Brownson, related this anecdote : Mrs. Brownson, 
while a good and faithful wife, was not always pliable, 
or prompt in responding to the requests of her hus- 
band. On occasions the Doctor has been known, in a 
playful way, to say to her : " Have a care ; if you do 
not acquiesce in my wish, when I am dead I will come 
back and plague you." Years after the Doctor's de- 
mise, the old lady, — his widow, — as she would brush 
from her nose some vexatious fly or annoying insect, 
has been heard to exclaim : " Go away. Doctor Brown- 
son ; " and as the persistent fly or pertinacious gnat 
would return, she would, with emphatic gesture and 
in decided tone, repeat the injunction : " Go aw^ay, I 
tell you. Doctor Brownson, and stop bothering me." 



ARCFIIBALD BULLOCH. 

Of all the patriots who encountered peril and made 
strenuous exertion to deliver Georgia from kingly 
dominion and pave the way for her admission into the 
sisterhood of the confederated American colonies, no 
one was more earnest, self-sacrificing, valiant, or influ- 
ential than the honorable Archibald Bulloch, Of irre- 
proachable character, firm in his convictions, brave of 
heart, bold in action, wise in counsel, jealous of indi- 
vidual and political rights, and thoroughly identified 
with the best interests of Savannah and of the prov- 
ince of which it was both the capital and commercial 
metropolis, at an early stage of the revolutionary pro- 
ceedings he became an acknowledged leader of the 
rebels, and was by them rapidly advanced to the high- 
est posts of danger and of honor. 

Son of the Reverend James Bulloch of Wilton, Col- 
leton Parish, South Carolina, clergyman and planter, 
and of Jean Stobo, daughter of the Reverend Archi- 
bald Stobo, of South Carolina, Archibald Bulloch was 
born in Charles Town, South Carolina, in 1730. Upon 
his early education every attention was bestowed. He 
was destined for the legal profession, and to that end 
his studies were shaped. Accompanying his father and 
family upon their removal to Savannah, Georgia/ in 
1750, from that time forward his interests and sym- 
pathies became identified with the development and 
prosperity of his adopted home. Called to the Bar 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 15 

soon after attaining his majority, he applied himself 
with zeal and success to the practice of his profession. 
He married Mary De Veaux, a daughter of James De 
Veaux, who, in 1760, was senior judge under the admin- 
istration of Governor Wright. Judge De Veaux was 
also a large landowner and a successful rice planter. 

In 1768, Mr. Bulloch became a member of the Com- 
mons House of Assemblj^, and was named on the com- 
mittee to correspond with Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who 
had been appointed an agent to " represent, solicit, and 
transact the affairs of the Colony of Georgia in Great 
Britain," and give him such instructions as might ap- 
pear necessary. 

Of the Commons House of Assembly convened in 
Savannah in 1772, Mr. Bulloch was chosen Speaker, 
pending a settlement of the dispute between that body 
and Governor Habersham touching a recognition of 
Dr. Noble Wymberley Jones. When, upon an inspec- 
tion of the Journal, his Excellency ascertained that, in 
disregard of his second disapproval, the House had a 
third time elected Dr. Jones as Speaker, and that it 
was only in consequence of his declining to accept the 
position that the members made choice of Mr. Bulloch, 
on the 25th of April he sent in this message : — 

" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly : 

" I am extremely sorry to find by your Journals that 
some very exceptionable minutes are entered. I par- 
ticularly mean your third choice of Noble Wymberley 
Jones, Esqr., as your Speaker, upon whom I had, agree- 
able to his Majesty's express instructions, twice put a 
negative, and that your choice of your present Speaker 
was 07ily in consequence of his declining the chair. If 



16 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

this minute is to stand^pon your Journals I have no 
choice left but to proceed to an immediate dissolution. 
I desire, therefore, that you will come to a present and 
speedy determination to recede from it. If you do, I 
shall, with the most unfeigned satisfaction, proceed to 
business, which you cannot but be sensible will be of 
the highest advantage to the Province. I shall expect 
your immediate answer to this message, that my con- 
duct may be regulated by it ; and shall for that pur- 
pose remain in the Council Chamber." 

To this plucky communication the House, through 
its Speaker, promptly responded : — 

" May it please your Honour : 

" We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects 

— the Commons of Georgia in General Assembly met 

— are very unhappy to find by your messnge to us of 
this day that any Minutes entered on our Journals 
should be construed by your Honour in a manner so 
very different from the true intent and design of this 
House. Conscious we are, Sir, that our third choice of 
Noble Wymberley Jones, Esqr. as our Speaker was not 
in the least meant as disrespectful to his Majesty, or to 
you his representative, nor thereby did we mean to in- 
fringe on the just prerogative of the Crown. We have 
seriously reconsidered that particular minute which 
seems to have oiven vour Honour so much offence, and 
cannot perceive wherein it is contrary to the strict 
mode of Parliamentary proceeding, or repugnant to 
anything communicated to us by your Honour. We 
were hopeful that no further impediment would have 
arisen to retard the urgent business of the public, and 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 17 

still flatter ourselves that we may be permitted to do 
that justice to our constituents which they have a 
right to expect from us : and we sincerely assure your 
Honour that it is our hearty wish and desire to finish 
the business, by you recommended to us, with all har- 
mony and dispatch. Archibald Bulloch, Speaker. 

Governor Habersham, upon the receipt of this re- 
sponse, summoned the House before him in the Coun- 
cil Chamber, and, after a review of the whole affair, 
finding that he could neither change the mind of the 
members nor mould their action in conformity with 
his wishes, peremptorily dissolved the assembly. 

Although Governor Habersham's conduct was ap- 
proved by the king, the effect produced upon the 
colony was perplexing and deleterious. The treasury 
was empty, and no tax-bill had been either digested or 
passed. Important statutes were expiring by their 
own limitations, and no new laws had been framed for 
the orderly conduct and support of the province. The 
inhabitants generally regarded the dissolution as an 
arbitrary exercise of imperial power, as a violent sup- 
pression of popular preference, as an unjui-tifiable 
interference with legislative privilege. From across 
the sea there came no redress of grievances. At home 
the shadows multiplied, and the waves of unrest, dis- 
quietude, and passion chafed more sullenly then ever 
against the barriers which the ministry had erected. 

In 1773 Mr. Bulloch was appointed a commissioner 
of " Public Roads," and with all the patriotic calls, 
movements, and assemblages commencing with the 
20th of July, 1774, and leading up to the memorable 
Provincial Cono-ress which assembled in Savannah on 



18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the 4th of July, 177«^iie was personally and promi- 
nently associated. On the 6th of the previous April 
he had united with Noble W. Jones and John Hous- 
toun in a letter to the President of the Continental 
Congress explaining the reasons why they — nominated 
by a convention composed of only five of the twelve 
parishes constituting the Province of Georgia — could 
not properly claim to represent the entire colony, or 
conscientiously apply for admission as delegates from 
Georgia to the General Congress. 

Of the Provincial Congress of the 4th of July, 1775, 
in which every parish was represented by intelligent 
delegates, — fit exponents of the dominant hopes and 
material interests of the communities from which they 
came, — Archibald Bulloch was unanimously chosen 
President. By this Congress Mr. Bulloch, John Hous- 
toun, the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble W. Jones, and Dr. 
Lyman Hall, were selected and commissioned as repre- 
sentatives from Georgia to the Continental Congress. 

Having memorialized the General Congress, the 
governor, the citizens of Georgia, and the king, — hav- 
ing framed a bill of rights and proclaimed the privi- 
leges for which they were resolved to contend, — bav- 
in"; introduced Georiria into the fold of the confeder- 
ated provinces, — having enlarged the powers of the 
Council of Safety and appointed committees of corre- 
spondence and of intelligence, — having provided the 
ways and means for future sessions of Congress, and, 
above all, having demonstrated the inability of the 
king's servants to control the province in the present 
crisis, this assembly — certainly one of the most im- 
portant ever convened in Georgia — adjourned on the 
17th of July, subject to further call up to the 2Uth of 
August. 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 19 

Responding to the trust reposed, Messrs. Bulloch, 
Houstoun, and Zubly repaired to Philadelphia, and par- 
ticipated in the deliberations of the Continental Con- 
gress at an adjourned session held on the loth of Sep- 
tember. 

The Provincial Congress which assembled in Savan- 
nah on the 20th of January, 1776, perfected its organi- 
zation two days afterwards by the election of the hon- 
orable Archibald Bulloch as president. On the 2d of 
February, he, John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button 
Gwinnett, and George Walton, were appointed dele- 
ii-ates to the Continental Cong-ress. Under the tern- 
porary constitution then adopted and promulgated, 
Mr. Bulloch was chosen "President and Commander- 
in chief of Georgia," with John Glen as Chief Justice, 
William Stephens as Attorney-General, and James 
Jackson as Clerk of Court. 

On the first of May, 1776, the Council of Safety 
thus saluted the first Eepublican President of Georgia: 

"May it please your Excellency: 

" The long session of the late Congress, together 
with the season of the year, called particularly for a 
speedy recess : and the House having adjourned while 
you were out of town, it becomes more particularly 
necessary for us to addess your Excellency. All, there- 
fore, with unfeigned confidence and regard, beg leave 
to congratulate not only your Excellency on your 
appointment to, but your country on your acceptance 
of, the supreme command in this Province. 

" It would be needless and tedious to recount the vari- 
ous and yet multiplying oppressions which have driven 
the people of this Province to erect that government 



20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

which they have call<^ upon you to see executed. 
Suffice it thus to declare that it was onl}' an alterna- 
tive of anarchy and misery, and, by consequence, the 
effect of dire necessity. Your Excellency will know 
that it was the endeavor of the Congress to stop every 
avenue of vice and oppression, lest the infant virtue of 
a still more infant Province might, in time, rankle into 
corruption ; and we doubt not that by your Excel- 
lencj^'s exertions all the resolutions made or adopted 
by Congress will be enforced with firmness without 
any regard to any individual or any set of men ; for 
no government can be said to be established while any 
part of the community refuses submission to its au- 
thority. In the discharge of this arduous and impor- 
tant task your Excellency may rely on our constant 
and best endeavors to assist and support you." 

To this address President Bulloch returned the fol- 
lowing response : — 

" Honorable Gentlemen : 

" I am much obliged to you for your kind expres- 
sions of congratulation on my appointment to the su- 
preme command of this Colony. When I reflect from 
whence the appointment is derived, — that of the free 
and uncorrupt suffrages of my fellow-citizens, — it can- 
not fail to stimulate me to the most vio-orous exertions 
in the discharge of the important duties to which I am 
called by our Provincial Congress. While I have the 
advice and assistance of gentlemen of known integrity 
and abilities, I doubt not but that I shall be enabled to 
enforce and carry into execution every resolve and 
law of Congress. And, as far as lies with me, my 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 21 

country may depend I will, with a becoming firmness 
and the greatest impartiality, always endeavor to cause 
justice in mercy to be executed." 

This confidence was well bestowed. To none more 
capable could this high trust have been confided. 
President Bulloch was a tower of strength. His per- 
sonal and official integrity, his exalted conception of 
honor, his patriotism, his admirable executive abilities, 
his honesty of thought and purpose, his sturdy man- 
hood, his unquestioned courage, and his enlarged views 
of the public good, were invaluable in shaping the con- 
duct, confirming the existence, and maintaining the 
dignity of the infant commonwealth. 

Complying with a custom which had obtained dur- 
ing the terms of service of the royal governors. Colo- 
nel Mcintosh, — commanding the provincial troops in 
Savannah, — upon the election of President Bulloch, 
caused a sentinel to be posted at the door of his resi- 
dence. To this his Excellency objected, with the re- 
mark : " I act for a free people in whom I have the 
most entire confidence, and I wish to avoid on all occti- 
sions the appearance of ostentation." Just prior to 
entering upon his duties as President and commander- 
in-chief of Georgia, and when Maitland and Grant had 
retired after their unsuccessful effort to capture the 
rice-laden vessels lying in the river opposite the town 
of Savannah, Mr. Bulloch compassed the following 
dangerous feat : Governor Wright, the officers of the 
fleet lying in the mouth of the Savannah River, and 
the British soldiers were in the habit of going ashore 
on Tybee Island and utilizing for their comfort and 
enjoyment the houses there situated. This the Coun- 



22 BlOGRAnilCAL SKETCHES. 

cil of Safety deteniiinc^^to prevent in future by de- 
stroying those edifices. Accordingly a boat expedition 

— consisting of rillenien, light infantry, volunteers, and 
a few Creek Indians, led by Mr. Bulloch — on the 25th 
of March made a descent upon that island, and burned 
every house except one in which a sick woman and 
several children were l^nng. Two marines from the 
fleet and a Tory were killed, and one marine and sev- 
eral Tories were captured. Although the Cherokee, 
man-of-war, and an armed sloop kept up an incessant 
fire, the party — consisting of about one hundred men 

— sustained no loss, and returned in safety to Savan- 
nah, having fully accomplished the prescribed mission. 

So tardy were the means of communication when 
the electric telegraph and conveyance by steam were 
unknown, that the Declaration of Independence — 
sanctioned in Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 1776 

— was not heard of in Georgia until the 10th of Au- 
gust. On that day an express messenger arrived, and 
delivered to President Bulloch a copy of that memo- 
rable document, accompanied by a letter from John 
Hancock, president of the Continental Congress. The 
Provincial Council was at once assembled, and in its 
heariuii; President Bulloch read aloud that historic ut- 
terance of the delegates of the thirteen united colonies. 
Profound was the impression created, and rapturously 
did the assembled councilors hail the elevation of Brit- 
ish colonies into the dignity of free and independent 
states. 

This ceremony concluded, the President and Mem- 
bers of Council repaired to the public square, where, 
in front of the building set apart for the deliberations 
of the Provincial Assembly, the Declaration of Inde- 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCFI. 23 

pendence was again read, and this time amid the ac- 
clamations of the cono"rei>:ated citizens of Savannah. 
The grenadier and light infantry companies then fired 
a general salute, and the following procession was 
formed : — 

" The Grenadiers in front ; 

The Provost Marshal on horseback, with his sword drawn ; 

The Secretary, bearing the Declaration ; 

His Excellency the President ; 

The honorable the Council, and gentlemen attending ; 

The Light Infantry; 

The Militia of the Town and District of Savannah; 

And lastly, the Citizens." 

In this order all marched to the Liberty Pole, where 
they were met by the Georgia Battalion. Here the 
Declaration was read for the third time. At the com- 
mand of Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, thirteen volleys 
were fired from the field-pieces, and also from the 
small arms. Thence the entire concourse proceeded 
to the battery at the Trustees Garden, where the De- 
claration was publicly read for the fourth and last 
time, and a salute was fired from the siege guns posted 
at that point. 

His Excellency, the Members of Council, Colonel 
Mcintosh, many gentlemen, and the militia dined un- 
der the cedar trees, and cordially drank to the " pros- 
perity and perpetuity of the United, Free, and Inde- 
pendent States of America." 

In the evening the town was illuminated. A funeral 
procession, — embracing a number of citizens larger 
than had ever been congregated in the history of Sa- 
vannah, attended by the grenadier and light infantry 
companies, the Georgia battalion, and the militia, — 



24 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

with muffled drums, n^^lied to the front of the court 
house, ^vllere his Mnjesty Georfre the Third was in- 
terred in elhgy, and the following burial service, pre- 
pared for the occasion, was read with all solemnity : — 

" For as much as George the Third, of Great Britain, 
hath most flagrantly violated his Coronation Oath, and 
trampled upon the Constitution of our country and 
the sacred rights of mankind : we, therefore, commit 
his political existence to the ground — corruption to 
corruption — tyranny to the grave — and oppression 
to eternal infamy ; in sure and certain hope that he 
will never obtain a resurrection to rule ai»;ain over 
these United States of America. But, my friends and 
fellow-citizens, let us not be sorry, as men without 
hope, for tyrants that thus depart — rather let us re- 
member America is free and independent ; that she is 
and will be, with the blessing of the Almighty, great 
amono; the nations of the earth. Let this encoura^-e 
us in well doing, to fight for our rights and privileges, 
for our wives and children, and for all that is near and 
dear unto us. May God give us his blessing, and let 
all the people say. Amen." 

With similar joy was the publication of the Declara- 
tion welcomed in other parishes. 

Now that Georgia had been formally recognized as 
a State, and as it had been recommended by the Colo- 
nial Congress that governments should be provided in 
the several commonwealths adapted to the exigencies 
of the new order of affairs, and conducive to the hap- 
piness and safety alike of the respective States and of 
the Confederated Union, President Bulloch issued his 
proclamation ordering a general election to be held 
between the 1st and the 10th of September, for the 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 25 

purpose of selecting representatives to meet in con- 
vention in Savannah on the first Tuesday in October. 
He also directed that a circular letter should be ad- 
dressed to the inhabitants of the parishes and districts 
of Georgia, congratulating them upon the happy po- 
litical outlook, reminding them of the important busi- 
ness to be transacted by the convention, and impress- 
ing upon them the necessity for selecting delegates of 
approved patriotism and of the highest character, — 
men whose friendship to the cause of freedom had 
been thoroughly proven, and whose political wisdom 
qualified them to frame the best constitution for the 
future guidance of the commonwealth. 

Another proclamation was issued for the encourage- 
ment of the recruiting service within the limits of 
Georgia. It was based upon a resolution of the Pro- 
vincial Congress which provided that every one enter- 
ing the army, who should serve faithfully for a period 
of three years or until peace was concluded with Great 
Britain, should be entitled to a bounty of one hundred 
acres of land. It was further stipulated that if he 
should perish in defense of his State, his widow or 
family w^ould be complimented with the land. 

President Bulloch was careful in explaining to the 
Indian nations dwelling upon the borders of Georgia 
the nature of the dispute between the united colonies 
and England, and in exhorting them to maintain a 
friendly correspondence. 

It was durino; his administration that General Charles 
Lee launched his futile expedition against East Florida. 

Responding to the proclamation and the circular let- 
ter of President Bulloch, the delegates selected by the 
various parishes assembled in Savannah on the first 



26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Tuesday in October, I'ij^. They M^re men of repute 
at home. They had been carefully chosen and were 
not insensible to the weighty obligations resting upon 
them. So numerous were the subjects claiming the 
attention of this convention, and so exhaustive were 
its deliberations, that it was not until the 5th of the 
following February that satisfactory conclusions were 
reached, and that the Constitution was promulgated 
which for twelve years defined and supported the 
rights of Georgia as an independent State. In shap- 
ing its provisions, the wisdom and patriotism, the aid 
and counsel of the Executive were frequently invoked. 

Scarcely had this instrument been published when 
an alarm was again sounded along the southern fron- 
tier of Georgia, and the arms-bearing population was 
summoned to the field. It being found impossible at 
all times to convene the Council of Safety with a 
promptitude requisite for the dispatch of urgent busi- 
ness, President Bulloch was, by resolution of that body 
adopted on the 22d of February, requested " to take 
upon himself the whole executive powers of govern- 
ment, calling to his assistance not less than five per- 
sons of his own choosing to consult and advise with 
him on every occasion when a sufficient number of 
councillors could not be convened to make a board." 

Unusual as was this delegation of power, it excited 
neither jealousy nor unfavorable comment. The times 
Avere hazardous, delays dangerous, and decision and 
quick action were imperatively demanded. The pru- 
dence, wisdom, courage, and patriotism of Mr. Bulloch 
were conspicuous. In him did the people trust with a 
confidence and a devotion rarely exhibited. 

But a little while, however, did he survive to exer- 



ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 27 

cise these extensive powers. Before the month of Feb- 
ruary was ended he died^ suddenly at his home in 
Savannah, and the State was filled with mourning. 
He fell in full armor, his thoughts intent upon duty, 
his arm nerved for the loftiest endeavor. No one of 
his generation was more influential in shaping the po- 
litical destinies of Georgia, or more potent in compass- 
ing the liberation of that colony from the dominion 
of the Crown. His good name and patriotic efforts 
are indissolubly associated with the proudest triumphs 
of the period. In slight acknowledgment of his ser- 
vices in the cause of freedom and in maintenance of 
the rights of man, a county has been named in his 
honor, and he is gratefully remembered as the first 
Republican President of the commonwealth. 

1 His will was executed on the llth of February, 1775, and was pro- 
bated on the 1st of March, 1786. It remains of record in the office of the 
Ordinary of Chatham County. 



JOSEPH CLAY. 

Ralph Clay — the father of tlie subject of this sketch 
— married Elizabeth, a sister of the honorable James 
Habersham, intimate friend of the reverend George 
Whitefield, and, during the absence of Sir James Wright 
in 1771-72, the royal governor of Georgia. Joseph 
Clay, the only son of this marriage, was born at Bever- 
ley, Yorkshire, England, on the 16th of October, 1741. 
At the suggestion of his distinguished uncle, supple- 
mented by the persuasions of the Reverend Mr. White- 
field, young Clay came to Georgia in 17G0. A few years 
afterwards, responding to the wish of Governor Haber- 
sham, who furnished the means requisite for the adven- 
ture, his son James Habersham junior and his nephew 
Joseph Clay associated themselves in a general com- 
mission business in Savannah. The partnership thus 
formed lasted about five years. With the exception 
of the period covered by the war of the Revolution 
Mr. Clay remained actively engaged in commercial 
pursuits. He and Colonel Joseph Habersham were at 
one time associated under the firm name of Joseph 
Clay & Company. He was also a partner in the house 
of Seth John Cuthbert & Company ; at another time 
he was the senior member of the firm of Clay, Telfair 
& Company, and again was interested as a copartner 
in the house of William Fox & Company of Newport, 
Rhode Island. His home was always in Savannah, 
where, on the 2d of January, 1763, he married Ann 



JOSEPH CLAY. 29 

Legardere. Soon after establishing himself in busi- 
ness in Savannah, Mr. Clay became interested, in con- 
nection with his relatives, the Habershams, in the 
cultivation of rice, which was then the principal mar- 
ket crop produced upon the marish lands of Southern 
Georgia. Both as a merchant and as a planter he 
prospered. In conducting his business affairs he was 
prompt, energetic, and competent. 

By the meeting of patriotic citizens assembled at 
the Liberty Pole at Tondee's Tavern in Savannah on 
the 27th of July, 1774, he was chosen a member of the 
committee then raised and charged with the prepara- 
tion of resolutions expressive of the rebel sentiments 
of the community, and of the determination of 
Georgia, at an early day, to associate herself with her 
sister American colonies in opposition to the enforce- 
ment of the unjustifiable and arbitrary acts of the 
British Parliament. 

On the 10th of the following August he appeared 
with this committee and united in submitting a report 
which, unanimously adopted, proclaimed in brave lan- 
guage the rights claimed by the protesting provinces, 
condemned in emphatic terms the policy inaugurated 
by England, and promised cooperation on the part of 
Georo-ia in all constitutional measures devised to ob- 
tain a redress of existing grievances and to maintain 
the inestimable blessings granted by God and guaran- 
teed by a constitution founded upon reason and justice. 
He was also of the committee then appointed to solicit 
and forward supplies for the relief of the suffering poor 
of Boston. In the rape of six hundred pounds of 
powder from the king's magazine in Savannah during 
the night of the 11th of May, 1775, and in its subse- 



30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

queiit distribution anion^ parties intent upon rebellion, 
Mr. Clay personally participated. By the assembly 
convened on the 22d of June in the same year he 
was complimented with a place in the Council of 
Safety. To the famous Provincial Congress which met 
in Savannah twelve days afterwai'ds, he was a delegate 
accredited from the town and district of Savannah. 
By that Congress he was placed upon a committee to 
frame an address to his Excellency Governor Wright. 
He was also designated as a member of the important 
'■' Committee of Intelligence," and commissioned as 
one of another committee to present the '■ Article of 
Association," then adopted, to the inhabitants of the 
town and district of Savannah for signature. 

Deeming it essential to the success of the liberty 
cause that no officer of the militia should be retained 
in commission who refused or neglected to sign this 
" Article of Association," and yet exhibiting a show of 
respect for Sir James Wright, the royal governor, 
George Walton, William Le Conte, Francis Harris, 
William Young, George Houstoun, William Ewen, 
John Glen, Samuel Elbert, Basil Cowper, and Joseph 
Clay, acting in behalf of the Council of Safety, on the 
8th of August, 1775, addressed a communication to his 
Excellency the governor, asking permission that the 
several militia companies of the province should be 
permitted to elect their own officers. It was sug- 
gested that some of them were distasteful to those 
whom they were appointed to command. Deeming it 
an extraordinary application, dangerous in its ten- 
dency and calculated to wrest the control of the mili- 
tary from the crown officers. Sir James sought the 
advice of his Council. An answer was returned : " that 



JOSEPH CLAY. 31 

for many very substantial reasons the governor would 
not comply with the request." Nothing daunted, the 
members of the Council of Safety, who really cared 
but little for the mind of the governor on the subject, 
took the matter in their own hands, and proceeded to 
purge the militia of any loyal element which lurked 
in the ranks of its commissioned officers. The revo- 
lutionists were in earnest. With rapid strides they 
marched forward, overcoming in succession every ob- 
stacle which retarded their progress towards the con- 
summation of the complete overthrow of kingly 
dominion in Georgia. In this rebel procession Joseph 
Clay was an active and efficient lieutenant. 

When, early in March, 1776, Barclay and Grant 
threatened Savannah, the Council of Safety resolved 
to defend that town and the rice-laden vessels lying at 
its wharves, to the last extremity. Mr. Clay was then 
named as chairman of a committee to inventory and 
value the shipping in port, and all houses in Savannah 
and its hamlets belonging to the friends of America 
who were prepared to participate in the common de- 
fense. In that inventory and appraisement were to 
be included the homes and property of widows and 
orphans. So firm was the resolution of the patriots, 
that they were determined to commit everything to 
the flames rather than have their town and shipping 
pass into the hands of British soldiers. 

The inventory and appraisement were made with a 
view to future indemnification at the hands of the gen- 
eral government. Fortunately the contemplated sacri- 
fice was not demanded at the hands of these gallant 
defenders. 

On the 6th of August, 1777, Mr. Clay was recog- 



32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

nized by the Contii^^tal Congress as Deputy Pay- 
master-General in Georgia, with the rank of colonel. 
This position was subsequently enlarged so as to em- 
brace the Southern Department. When General 
Greene assumed command of this department, Colonel 
Clay was brought into personal association with him, 
and secured his confidence and esteem. Large sums 
of money were disbursed by him in the execution of 
his office, and there remains no su<i:y:estion of default 
or misappropriation. During the years 1778, 1779, 
and 1780 Georgia named him as one of her delegates 
to the Continental Congress. 

By the first general assembly which convened in 
Savannah after its evacuation by General Alured 
Clarke and the king's forces in July, 1782, Colonel 
Clay was elected Treasurer of the State of Georgia, 
and his salary was fixed at £300 per annum. 

In 1785 he was named as one of the trustees for 
establishing the college or seminary of learning which 
subsequently developed into the present University o£ 
Georgia; and during the following year he became 
one of the justices of Chatham County. In 'May, 1791, 
he was a member of the committee which welcomed 
President Washinsjton on the occasion of his visit to 
Savannah. He died in that city on the 15th of No- 
vember, 1804.^ 

His son Joseph was a prominent lawyer, and for 
several years occupied the bench as United States 
Judge for the District of Georgia. Resigning this 

1 Applc'ton's C)/clopcE(lia of American Biography fixes the date of 
Colom-l Clay's death as the ICth of January, 18o5. Tlie true date, as 
taken from the family records, is that which we have given above. 



JOSEPH CLAY. 33 

position he entered the sacred ministry, and was re- 
garded as one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of 
his day. In later generations the descendants of 
Colonel Clay have been noted in the church, at the 
Bar, in the domain of politics, and in social life. 



WILLIAM FEW. 

Unassisted by family or fortune, yet sustained by 
natural capabilities, a strong character, a determined 
will, and a laudable ambition, the subject of this sketch, 
triumphing over the lack of early education and the 
retarding influences of the res angiista donii, bore a 
prominent part alike in the Revolutionary annals of 
Georgia, and in those acts and deliberations which cul- 
minated in the establishment of this general govern- 
ment. Brave of heart, firm in purpose, full of patri- 
otic impulse, bred in the school of the self-reliant 
pioneer, possessing an admirable knowledge of men 
and events, and exhibiting on all occasions a sound 
and comprehensive judgment, his counsel and aid were 
invaluable during the trying epoch when the govern- 
ment of an infant State, changing its seat as the tide 
of revolution ebbed and flowed in the presence or ab- 
sence of the king's soldiers, stood in sore need of the 
substantial encouragement of those accustomed to deal 
with emergencies and difficulties, and who were loyal 
to the cause of independence. Material was the assist- 
ance rendered by Colonel Few, not only in the shock 
of arms wherein he took rank with Twiggs, Clarke, 
Dooly, Elbert, Walton, and Baker, keeping the flame 
of resistance alive when the territory of Georgia was 
well-nigh overrun by British regulars, Tories, and sub- 
sidized Indians, but also in devising means for sustain- 
ing the Revolutionists when they sadly needed arms. 



WILLIAM FEW. 35 

clothing, food, organization, munitions, and all sorts of 
equipments. Potent was his voice in the discussions 
which eventuated in framing a constitution and in the 
enactment of laws suitable for tht. governance of a 
new State just emerged from kingly rule. 

As a Representative from Georgia in the Conti- 
nental Congress, his course in the national councils 
was marked by integrity, fidelity, and ability. The 
reputation acquired at home was here broadened and 
heightened until it became national in its scope. As a 
Judge, his conduct was at all times impartial and dig- 
nified, and his administration of the law, just, capable, 
and inflexible. More than once was he called upon to 
aid in settling the boundary lines of Georgia, and in 
the pacification of the Indian tribes cormorant near 
her borders. As one of the original trustees of the 
state university, his services in devising a scheme for 
the liberal education of the youths of the land are 
well remembered. His labors in the convention for 
revising the Articles of Confederation, and his exer- 
tions in behalf of Georgia and her sister colonies in 
their contest for an independent national existence, 
were rewarded by a seat in the Senate of the United 
States. Thus, as a partisan officer, as a member of the 
Executive Council of Georgia, as a State Legislator, as 
a Judge, a Trustee, a Commissioner, a Member of Con- 
gress, and as a United States Senator, he was compli- 
mented with nearly every prominent office within the 
gift of his adopted State. At all times and in every 
place did he endear himself to his people ; and the 
value of his patriotic and public services was thor- 
oughly recognized. Faithful and energetic in the hour 
of doubt and peril, he lived to behold the full triumph 



36 BIOGRArmCAL SKETCHES. 

of the republic, and t^phare liberally in the general 
honors. 

Upon his removal to New York in 1799, his services 
were speedily invoked in the interest of the good order 
of the community, and the remainder of his life was 
there spent in usefulness, in the efficient administra- 
tion of various noted charities, in the discharge of 
duties appertaining to offices of trust and honor within 
the gift of the city, and in the proper guidance of the 
affairs of one of its most respectable financial institu- 
tions. 

A descendant of one of the early settlers of Penn- 
sylvania, Colonel William Few was born in Baltimore 
County, Maryland, on the 8th of June, 1748. Remov- 
ing with his parents to North Carolina when just ten 
years of age, his boyhood and early manhood were 
spent in a region where privation and severe labor 
were the heritage of the many, where opportunities 
for acquiring even the rudiments of an education were 
very limited, and where the battle with nature for sub- 
sistence and reasonable comfort was incessant and all- 
absorbing. Even under such disadvantageous circum- 
stances, the longings of his active mind for culture and 
knowledge were extraordinary, and the progress made 
in intellectual improvement was quite astonishing. 
The narrative which he has left of his early struggles 
unfolds a bright example worthy the emulation of in- 
genuous youth of the succeeding generations whose 
lots may be cast in rough places. He came to reside 
in Georgia in the autumn of 1776. Just twenty-eight 
years of age, full of vigor and enthusiasm, and ac- 
customed to deal with men, he was there accorded 
a hearty welcome. Those were stirring times, and 



WILLIAM FEW. 37 

almost immediately upon his arrival he threw himself 
with patriotic ardor into the midst of them, taking an 
active interest in public affairs, which he maintained 
during his residence of nearly a quarter of a century 
in that State. 

His life was characterized by probity, decision, inde- 
pendence, strength, courage, and devotion to country 
and duty. Ardent in temperament, yet deliberate in 
forming his opinions, he adhered with a tenacity 
worthy of admiration to all projects promotive of good 
morals and the general welfare. Toward those enter- 
taining opposite political views he was tolerant and 
courteous. Candor in thought, word, and act was one 
of his distinguishing traits. As a partisan officer he 
was enterprising, intrepid, and patient of every fatigue 
and privation. The success of the Republic he held 
superior to every other consideration, and to the cause 
of the Revolutionists he gave, on every occasion, his 
unswerving allegiance. In the domestic circle he was 
affectionate, true, and confiding. A staunch believer 
in the truths of revealed religion, he governed his life 
in obedience to the established tenets of the Church 
of Christ. During his declining years he was much 
given to meditation and repose. Having acquired an 
ample fortune, it was his pleasure to disburse all sur- 
plus income in support of such charities as com- 
mended themselves to his philanthropic heart. In 
person. Colonel Few was tall, erect, slender, and well- 
proportioned. His regular and finely poised head was 
indicative of resolution, intellect, and character. His 
countenance was agreeable, and his eyes were full of 
expression. In his manners he was grave and digni- 
fied, and his deportment was such as to inspire confi- 



38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



dence and respect. 

Albert Chrystie, his soTTin-law, at Fislikill-on-Hiidson, 

on the IGth of July, 1828, full of years and of honors.^ 



[le ( 

o^ii 



^ The foUowino; is a suininary of the more prominent positions filled by- 
Mr. Few during his long, busy, and useful life : — 

1777. Member from Richmond County of the Georgia Legislature. 

1777. Member of the Executive Council. 

1778. Engaged in the Expedition conducted by General Robert Howe 
and Governor John Houstoun for the subjugation of East Florida. 

1778. Elected Surveyor-General of Georgia. 

1778. Appointed Commissioner of Confiscated Estates, and Senior Jus- 
tice for the County of Richmond. 

1779. Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Richmond County Militia, 
and actively employed in the field in resisting the advance of Colonel 
Campbell upon Augusta, in guarding the frontiers of Georgia, and in re- 
sisting the predatory attacks of British, Tories, and Indians. 

1779. A Commissioner on the part of Georgia to bring about a pacifi- 
cation of the Creek and Cherokee nations. 

1779. Again a member of the General Assembly of Georgia. 

1780. A delegate from Georgia to the Continental Congress. 

1781. In obedience to the expressed will of the Continental Congress, 
present in Georgia to assist in the reconstruction of the State govern- 
ment. 

1782. A second time a delegate to the Continental Congress. 

1783. Again a member of the Georgia Legislature. 

1784. Admitted to the Bar in Savannah. 

1 786. Reelected to the Continental Congress. 

1787. Delegate from Georgia to the Philadelphia Convention for re- 
vising the Constitution of the United States. 

1788. Member of the Georgia Convention which ratified the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. 

1 789. United States Senator from Georgia. 

1793. Again a member of the Georgia Legislature. 

1796. Ap})ointed Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit of Georgia. 

1799. Removed to New York city. 

1801-1804. A member of the General Assembly of New York. 

1804. Appointed Commissioner of Loans. 

1802. Inspector of the New York State Prison. 

1813-18J4. Alderman of the 8th Ward of the city of New York. 

1804-1814. Director of the Manhattan Bank. 

1814. President of the City Bank. 



WILLIAM FEW. 39 

He was also, in 1785, one of the original trustees for establishinof the 
University of Georgia ; and was named as a grantee in the cession from 
the State of forty thousand acres of land as a foundation for that semi- 
nary of learning. 

Mr. Few united with George Walton and Richard Howley in preparinf 
and signing, in Philadelphia, in January, 1781, the tract entitled "Ob- 
servations upon the Effects of certain late Political Suggestions," in which 
they — then representing Georgia in the Continental Congress — protest 
manfully against the adoption of the uii possidetis as a probable basis for 
peace between England and her American Colonies. 



WILLIAM GIBBONS. 

The honorable Thomas Spalding, then far advanced 
in years, in 1850 thus narrates his recollections of the 
subject of this sketch.^ " Mr. Gibbons was my law 
instructor. After my own father he was the best 
friend I ever knew. He was a great lawyer, well read 
in his profession, which he acquired in Charleston un- 
der the direction of a Mr. Parsons, — an Irish gentle- 
man of high grade in the law. The result from his 
professional labors while I lived with him was three 
thousand pounds sterling a year. This I knew, as I 
was his collector and Mrs. Gibbons his treasurer. 
There was then no bank paper. His note-book was to 
him of great value, for he had distinctly noted every 
important case that had occurred during his whole 
practice, giving the points on which it turned and the 
opinion of the judge ; and as these judges in those 
times were Judge Walton of Augusta and Judge 
Houstoun of Savannah, these decisions carried more 
weight with the jury than the decisions of the King's 
Bench. 

" Mr. Gibbons was not a very fluent speaker. He 
was very quick in discovering the weak point of his 
opponent, and his memory was always ready to give 
the law that bore upon it. His commentary upon the 
law was in short, in clear, distinct terms, very pointed ; 
and sometimes he indulged in witticisms, which in- 

1 The Bench and Bar of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 102. Philadelphia, 1858. 



WILLIAM GIBBONS. 41 

creased as he grew older from his intimate association 
with Peter Carnes the elder, — the wittiest lawyer I 
ever have known, and whose wit obscured his profound 
law knowledge in the eyes of the many. Mr. Gib- 
bons in his nature was very open, frank, and manly, 
and very determined. This gave him a few warm 
friends and many bitter enemies. 

"It gives me pleasure to state that General James 
Jackson, — the noblest man with whom it has been my 
lot to be acquainted, — when I called upon him as gov- 
ernor^ to give me a letter to Mr. King, our then 
Minister in London, kept me to dine with him ; and he 
asked me what were Mr. Gibbons's receipts from his 
profession ? I replied : ' Three thousand pounds per 
annum.' His response was : ' My own were about that 
amount when I unwisely left my profession for poli- 
tics. Mr. Gibbons, as a whole, was the greatest lawyer 
in Georgia.' Let me say to you that General Jack- 
son and Mr. Gibbons had exchanged three shots at 
each other; they were considered the bitterest enemies 
by the public. A high-minded man feels no enmity.** 

Mr. Gibbons was a gentleman of large wealth, accu- 
mulated, it is believed, by judicious investment of his 
professional income. It was upon one of his rice plan- 
tations, situated not far from " Mulberrj'^ Grove " on 
the Savannah River, and while as the guest of Mr. 
Gibbons inspecting his growing crop, that General 
Nathanael Greene, on the 13th of June, 1786, con- 
tracted the illness which so speedily terminated his 
valuable life. His residence in Savannah was noted 
for its comfort and bountiful hospitality. It was the 

1 This was in 1798. 



42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

day of rich brown sl^ry, Madeira wine, and good 
brandy. 

Upon another of Mr. Gibbons's plantations General 
Wayne, in June, 1782, met and overcame the famous 
Indian Chief Guristersigo. 

While intent upon the practice of his profession and 
busied with his private affairs, he was not indifferent to 
the claims of country or an idle spectator of passing 
events. His sympathies at the outset were cordially 
enlisted on the side of the " Sons of Liberty," and his 
time and services were cheerfully given to furthering 
the aims of the rebels. 

He was one of the party which, during the night of 
the 11th of May, 1775, broke open the magazine in 
Savannah and removed therefrom some six hundred 
pounds of the king's powder, to be exploded not in the 
honor, but in defiance of his Majesty. 

In the Provincial Congress of July, 1775, he appeared 
as a delegate from the District of Acton, and was a 
member of the committee raised to acquaint the presi- 
dent of the Continental Congress with the proceedings 
of the Georo:ia Cono;ress. 

Of the Council of Safety selected on the 11th of the 
following December he was chosen a member. It was 
by direction of this council that Governor Wright was 
arrested and confined. So far as we can learn, Mr. 
Gibbons never bore arms during the struggle, but he 
was almost continuously in the civil service of the com- 
monwealth. Of that Executive or Supreme Council 
which, in July, 1779, was invested with extraordinary 
powers, he was an active member. 

Aside from the distinction of representing Georgia 
in the Continental Congress,^ he was complimented in 

1 In 1784-86, 



WILLIAM GIBBONS. 43 

1786 with the position of Associate Justice of the 
County of Chatham ; in the following year with the 
speakership of the House of Representatives ; and in 
1789 with the presidency of the constitutional con- 
vention. The act of a formal acceptance, by Governor 
Walton, from Mr. Gibbons of the new Constitution 
concluded upon by that convention in Augusta on the 
6th of May, was announced to the town by a salute of 
eleven guns. 

Mr. Gibbons died in Savannah in 1800. His will 
bears date the 14th of June, 1799, and was admitted 
to probate on the 26th of November in the following 
year. It is now of record in the office of the Ordinary 
of Chatham County, Georgia. 



JAMES GUNN. 

Born of humble parentage and in straitened circum- 
stances in Virginia, in 1739, and having acquired such 
education as was afforded by the common schools in 
the neighborhood, Mr. Gunn applied himself to the 
study of the law, and was in due course called to the 
Bar. 

When the united colonies took up arms against the 
mother country, he espoused the cause of the Revolu- 
tionists, and, in his native State, joined the rebel army. 

As a captain of dragoons he participated, under 
General Wayne, in the movement for the relief of 
Savannah, Georgia, in 1782; and upon the termination 
of the war selected that town as his home, and there 
resumed the practice of his profession. 

He was fond of military affairs, and, as Colonel of 
the First Regiment of Chatham County Militia, led a 
detachment of state troops which succeeded in dis- 
persing a formidable body of runaway slaves, who, 
having been trained to arms by the British during their 
occupation of Savannah, upon the cessation of hostili- 
ties styling themselves the "King of England's sol- 
diers," and refusing to return to the abodes of their 
respective owners, formed a fortified encampment on 
Bear Creek, and from this place of conjectured secu- 
rity sallied forth by night, plundering and burning 
adjacent plantations on both sides of the Savannah 
River. 



JAMES GUNN. 45 

Subsequently he rose to the grade of Brigadier- 
General of Georgia Militia, and was, by Governor Tel- 
fair, summoned to a council of war to devise measures 
for the protection of the State against the incursions 
of the Creek Indians. 

Of violent temper and inclined to quarrel, shortly 
after General Greene became a resident of Georgia, 
General Gunn challeno-ed him for an alleo;ed wrono; 

o do 

which he conceived the general had inflicted upon him 
during the war of the Revolution. At the time of the 
conjectured injury. General Greene had been Gunn's 
commanding officer. Declining the meeting, and dis- 
avowing all responsibility in the premises, General 
Greene planted his refusal upon the broad ground that 
any admission of accountability under the circum- 
stances would prove totally subversive of all military 
discipline. The whole matter was referred to General 
Washington, who unhesitatingly justified the course 
pursued by his favorite lieutenant. 

The Georgia Legislature, then in session at Augusta, 
on the 10th of February, 1787, elected General Gunn 
as a delegate to the Continental Congress ; but it is 
believed he never took his seat as a member of that 
body. 

Of the first Congress which convened under the 
Constitution framed by the Convention of 1787, Gen- 
eral Gunn was a member. He was also a United 
States Senator from Georgia, in 1795 and 1706. While 
holding this high office he became implicated in the 
Yazoo speculations, involving personal disgrace and im- 
pairing the fair fame of the commonwealth which he 
represented in the Upper House of the National Con- 
gress. He was one of the three grantees of The 



46 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Georgia Company, and^xerted liis influence to com- 
pass a cession of piiljuc lands in direct violation of 
established principles of justice and equity. 

Alluding to this scheme to rob the State of Georgia 
of its western territory, Doctor Stevens observes : ^ — 

" The whole State was heaving with excitement. 
The bribery which had been so openly used by men 
high in office on the Bench, at the Bar, and in the 
Senate, and the corruption, intrigue, intimidation, and 
violence which had been employed to gain over the 
Legislature to the plans of the speculators constitute a 
dark page in the political history of Georgia. One of 
the most zealous advocates of this scheme was James 
Gunn. This man, who had risen from almost obscu- 
rity to power by truckling to the vulgar tastes of the 
populace, and by some show of military genius, was, 
at the period of which we write, a Senator of Georgia 
in Congress, and his presence there was needed to 
guard the interests of the State. Yet, sacrificing all 
public considerations to private advantage, he remained 
in Georgia, repaired to Augusta, and by his influence 
and efforts, at once overbearing and unscrupulous, be- 
came the main manager of this nefarious business. 
Having secured the passage of the bill, he then repaired 
to Congress, which he reached only the last day of 
February, — four days before the constitutional close 
of the session, — and there sought to carry out his 
Georgia schemes by involving the general government 
also in these questionable transactions." 

In these efforts he was thwarted by his co-Senator 
from Georgia, — a gentleman of the sternest probity, 
jealous of personal and national honor, and of conspic- 

1 History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 4 78. Philadelphia, 1859. 



JAMES GUNK 47 

uous courage, — the honorable James Jackson. It was 
chiefly through his potent intervention that the re- 
scinding act was passed, that the scheme to rob the 
commonwealth of its valuable western territory was 
exposed to public apprehension and reprobation, and 
that the legislative proceedings of Georgia were 
purged of this flagrant iniquity. Disgrace and disap- 
pointment followed hard upon exposure. Senator 
Gunn died suddenly at Louisville, Jefferson County, 
Georgia (then the capital of the State), on the 30th 
of July, 1801.^ He was one of those who voted for 
locating the seat of government on the Potomac. 

While an active and brave subaltern in the Conti- 
nental Army, and a man of determination and of con- 
siderable force of character. General Gunn was violent, 
aggressive, addicted to extravagant statement and pro- 
fane swearing, overbearing, disposed to pander to the 
lowest prejudices of the populace, unscrupulous in the 
means employed for the accomplishment of his ambi- 
tion, vain, boastful, negligent of public duty when in- 
tent upon schemes of personal advantage, and intoler- 
ant of opposition. The architect of his own fortunes, 
he builded a reputation quite marked, but in some 
respects unenviable. 

1 In the Georgia Gazette of August 6th, 1801, appears the following 
notice of his death : "Extract of a Letter from Louisville, dated July 
31. General Gunn arrived here last Sunday, and died last night at 
eleven or twelve o'clock, a very short illness indeed. It is said that his 
death was greatly owing to a draught of cold water after the taking of 
medicine ; and, what is strange, the doctor and several gentlemen were in 
the room, and not one observed his death till some time after he expired. 
He is to be buried this afternoon with the honors of war." 

His will was probated in Chatham County, Georgia, on the 10th of 
May, 1808, and letters testamentary were granted to Sarah Gunn, execu- 
trix. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 

With the exception of the last five or six years, 
which were rendered somewhat memorable by an ac- 
tive participation in the events connected with the in- 
ception and progress of the Revolution in Georgia, and 
by his tragic death, Button Gwinnett appears to have 
spent his life in tranquillity and without special mark. 
Aside from the Constitution adopted by the Georgia 
Convention in 1777, which is generally supposed to 
have been, in large measure, the offspring of his 
thought and political sagacity, we have no monument 
either of his literary or public effort. He wrote and 
spoke but seldom, and his signatures are esteemed 
amono; the rarest of the Sig^ners of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

His birth in England occurred almost contempo- 
raneously with the planting of the colony of Georgia, 
at Savannah, by the illustrious Oglethorpe. That his 
education was not neglected may be accepted as a 
fact, although it was perhaps not so liberal as to have 
inclined him to the adoption of one of the learned pro- 
fessions. In early manhood he engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in Bristol, England. This city, however, in a 
spirit of adventure, he soon abandoned, and became a 
resident of Charles-Town, South Carolina. Here, for a 
season, he resumed his avocation as a merchant ; but, 
erelong, attracted by the growing importance of the 
younger Province of Georgia, he transferred his hopes 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 49 

and his property to Savannah, its commercial metro- 
polis. There, as early as 1765, we find him established 
in the business of a general trader. It was a place of 
limited means, and trifling were the ventures of its 
most prosperous merchants. 

The establishment of a convenient highway connect- 
intr the town of Savannah with the Scotch settlement 
at Darien, on the Alatamaha River, tended largely to 
the development and the population of the interme- 
diate swamp region, which was very fertile, and well 
adapted to the cultivation of rice, cotton, corn, indigo, 
and vegetables and fruits of various sorts. The regula- 
tion prohibiting the introduction of negro slaves into 
the Province of Georgia had been abrogated, and for- 
mer restrictions upon the alienation of lands had been 
removed. Thus encouraged, and allured by the agri- 
cultural advantages of this portion of the Province, 
colonists from other plantations flocked in and pos- 
sessed themselves of the rich deltas of the Great Ogee- 
chee, the Midway, and the North Newport rivers. The 
accession of the Dorchester congregation — consisting 
of some three hundred and fifty whites and fifteen 
hundred negroes — materially enhanced the wealth 
and increased the population of this Midway District. 
It contributed to the rising importance of the village 
of Sunbury, situated upon a bold and beautiful bluff 
on Midway River, which, overlooking the placid waters 
of that stream and the intervening low-lying marshes, 
descries in the distance the green woods of Bermuda 
Island, the dim outline of the southern point of Ossa- 
baw, and, across the Sound, the white shores of St. 
Catharine. 



50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

When the claim of Mary Bosomworth ^ was finally 
adjusted, this island mSt. Catharine, upon which she 
had fixed her home, was acknowledged to be her in- 
dividual property. Apparently dissatisfied with his 
mercantile pursuits, and anxious to avail himself of the 
attractions oflered by the Midway District, fast becom- 
ing the most influential parish in the Province, Gwin- 
nett, about 17G8, converted his property into money 
and purchased a portion of this island from Thomas 
and Mary Bosomworth. Including some cattle, horses, 
hogs, lumber, and a plantation-boat, the cost of these 
premises amounted to £5,250. With some negro 
slaves he there established a plantation and turned his 
attention to agriculture. Indigo, rice, corn, and lum- 
ber were the staple commodities of the region. His 
residence was in easy access to Sunbury, then the rival 
of Savannah in population and commercial impor- 
tance.^ With Dr. Lyman Hall — the leading physi- 
cian in the community, and one of the earliest and 
most influential " Sons of Liberty" in the Province — 
he contracted a strong personal and political friend- 
ship. To this association may probably be referred 
the active interest which Gwinnett soon manifested in 
the political fortunes of the Province, then on the eve 
of a mighty revolution. 

His first public service of which we find any mention 

^ Her Indian name was Cowsaponckesa, Claiming to ])e of royal blood, 
slie was in turn the wife of Joiin Musgrove, Jacob jMatthews, and of the 
Rev. I'homas Bosomwortl), at one time chaplain to Oglethorpe's regi- 
ment. She had rendered various and valuable services to the colonists. 

2 On the IGth of September, 1768, Mr. Gwinnett was, by Governor 
James Wright, appointed a commissioner "for regulating the pilotage for 
the Bar of Saint Catharine and the river Midway in the Parish of Saint 
John and Province of Georgia." He aUo held a commission from the 
crown as a Justice of the Peace for St. John's Parish. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 51 

was rendered as a delegate from the Parish of St. John 
to the Provincial Congress which convened in Savan- 
nah on the 20th of January, 1776. By that Congress 
he was selected, in association with Archibald Bulloch, 
John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, and George Walton, as a 
deleo-ate to the Continental Congress. In that national 
assembly he appeared on the 20th of the following 
May, and, as one of the members from Georgia, affixed 
his signature to the Declaration proclaiming the inde- 
pendence of the United Colonies. 

On the 30th of August, 1776, Mr. Gwinnett pre- 
sented to the Council of Safety certified resolutions of 
the Continental Cono-ress authorizing the enlistment of 
a reg-iment of Rangers, horse and foot, — two bat- 
talions, two companies of Artillery to garrison the forts 
at Savannah and Sunbury to be erected at the expense 
of Georgia, and the construction of four galleys, to be 
built at the charge of the general government and un- 
der the supervision of the Governor of Georgia, — all 
intended for the defense of that State, and to be placed 
upon the Continental establishment. In compassing 
the passage of these resolutions and in carrying them 
into practical effect he was largely instrumental. 

On the 7th of October in the same year he became 
a member of the Council of Safety, still retaining his 
position as a delegate to the Continental Congress. 

With the framing and passage of the Constitution of 
1777, which for twelve years defined and supported 
the rights of Georgia as an independent State, Button 
Gwinnett had much to do. In truth, he was regarded 
as the parent of that instrument; the provisions of 
which were, in the main, well considered, wise, and 
adapted to the emergency. Not a few of them have 



52 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

withstood the changes of more than a century. To 
the present day are t^ir beneficial influences recog- 
nized and approved. 

Such was the alarming condition of public affairs, 
and so menacing tiie attitude assumed by Florida, that 
a short time before his death Button Gwinnett, Jona- 
than Bryan, WiUiam Bryan, Adam F. Brisbane, and 
John Bohun Girardeau — members of the Council of 
Safety — addressed a communication to President 
Archibald Bulloch, requesting him '• to take upon him- 
self the whole executive powers of government, and 
to call in to his assistance not less than five persons of 
his own choosing, with whom lie might consult and ad- 
vise on every urgent occasion when a sufficient num- 
ber of Councillors could not be convened to make a 
board." 

In February, 1777, Archibald Bulloch — the first 
Republican President and Commander-in-Chief of 
Georgia ; who was a tower of strength to the Re- 
volutionists ; whose personal integrity, high sense of 
honor, patriotism, admirable executive abilities, hon- 
esty of thought and purpose, sturdy manhood, un- 
questioned courage, and comprehensive views of the 
public good were invaluable in shaping the conduct 
and maintaining the dignity of the infant common- 
wealth ; who, with ceremonies the most august, had 
promulgated the Declaration of Independence in 
Savannah, and in all his acts had commanded the re- 
spect, confidence, and devotion of his fellow citizens — 
passed away suddenly, the lamp of liberty in his hand 
trimmed and burning, his noble character, exalted im- 
pulses, and brave deeds constituting a precious legacy 
to his people. The infant State was filled with mourn- 
in ir. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 53 

By the Council of Safety was Gwinnett, on the 4th 
of March, 1777, elected President and Commander-in- 
Chief of Georgia in the place of President Bulloch. In 
that capacity he was to serve until such time as a 
governor could be duly appointed in obedience to ex- 
isting constitutional provisions. Thus had he rapidly 
attained unto the hio-hest honor within the srift of the 
commonwealth. 

On the same day the Council of Safety (at the ur- 
gent suggestion, it is said, of the newly elected Presi- 
dent), " in view of the suffering condition of many of 
the inhabitants of East Florida inclining them to throw 
themselves on the people of Georgia for protection, 
and the alarmed condition of the Southern frontier on 
account of the frequent inroads and depredations of 
the Floridians," passed an order " requesting President 
Gwinnett to march into Florida, with a competent 
force of militia and volunteers, erecting the American 
standard as he went, and proclaiming protection and 
security of person and property to all who would take 
the oath of allegiance to the United States." He was 
also urged " to cut off all supplies from the garrison 
of St. Augustine." In his absence upon the contem- 
plated expedition, Jonathan Bryan was chosen to pre- 
side over the Council. 

The following is the full text of the commission of 
Button Gwinnett as President and Commander-in-Chief 
of Georgia : — 

" At a Council held at Savannah, in the State of 
Georgia, the fourth day of March in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven, 
appointed by the Representatives of the People of the 
State of Georgia aforesaid : 



64 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

To our trusty and well-beloved Button Gwinnett, 
Esquire, Greeting : 

" Whereas it was thought necessary by the Represen- 
tatives of the people of this State [then Province], in 
General Congress assembled on the third day of April 
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-six, to appoint proper officers from among 
themselves or the people at large for the execution of 
certain powers to them respectively delegated and in- 
trusted : 

'•'And whereas the same People by their Represen- 
tatives in Congress assembled did, by their special 
commission, constitute and appoint their trusty and 
well-beloved Friend, Archibald Bulloch, Esquire, Presi- 
dent and Commander-in-Chief of the State aforesaid, 
giving and granting unto the said Archibald Bulloch 
such full power and authority as is in the said commis- 
sion fully and clearly pointed out and set forth : 

"And whereas the said Congress did further re- 
solve that in case of the death or inability to act of 
such their President, so by them appointed, that then 
and in such case, during the recess of Congress afore- 
said, the Council aforesaid should have full power and 
authority to appoint from among themselves such 
other person to the office of President, so happening to 
be vacant from the causes aforesaid, as to them should 
seem meet: 

" And whereas the said Archibald Bulloch, Esquire, 
hath since departed this life, whereby the Executive 
Powers of Administration have devolved upon us the 
Council aforesaid : 

" And whereas we have under those circumstances, 
in the name of the good People of the State aforesaid. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 55 

and agreeable to the power vested in us, thought 
proper to elect and appoint you, the said Button 
Gwinnett, President and Commander-in-Chief of the 
said State : 

" Know ye therefore that we, the Council aforesaid, 
during the Eecess of the Legislative Body of the 
State aforesaid, by whatsoever name they may be 
called, reposing special Trust and confidence in the 
Prudence, Courage, Patriotism, and Integrity of you 
the said Button Gwinnett, have thought fit to consti- 
tute and appoint, and by these Presents do constitute 
and appoint you, the said Button Gwinnett, to be 
President and Commander-in-Chief of the State of 
Georgia aforesaid, agreeable to the powers and au- 
thority vested in us by the Resolves and Regulations 
of the said Congress. And we do hereby charge and 
command you to do and execute all things in due 
manner that shall belong unto your said command, 
and the trust we have reposed in you, according to 
the several powers and authorities granted or ap- 
pointed you by this present commission, and the Rules, 
Laws, and Regulations herewith given you, or by such 
further Powers, Jurisdiction, and Authorities as shall 
at any time hereafter be granted or appointed you by 
the present or any future Legislature of the said State, 
and according to such Resolves, Laws, and Statutes as 
now are in force, or hereafter shall be made and agreed 
upon by any future Legislature of the said State, 
legally convened under your government, in such man- 
ner and form as is hereafter expressed. 

" And our pleasure is that you, the said Button 
Gwinnett, after the publication of this our Commis- 
sion and Authority, do in the first place take the oath 



56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

appointed to be takeii as President and Commander- 
in-Chief of the State oT Georgia aforesaid: And also 
tiUve, subscribe, and acknowledge the Test or Declara- 
tion also appointed to be taken, subscribed, and ac- 
knowledged by the said Congress, which said oath our 
Attorney General, in the name of us the Council afore- 
said, hath full power and authority to administer unto 
you : And we do hereby give and grant unto you 
full Power and Authority, with the Advice, Consent, 
and Approbation of us, the said Council, [whereof 
seven shall be a quorum] from time to time, as need 
shall require, to summon and call the General Congress 
of this State, or by whatever name the same be called, 
when the same shall be adjourned or any recess thereof 
happen and necessity require. And you, the said 
Button Gwinnett, with the Advice and Consent of the 
Council aforesaid, shall appoint Magistrates to act dur- 
ing pleasure in the several Parishes of this State for 
the better advancement of Justice, and for the good 
order and quiet of the people under your command, 
and putting the Laws in execution, and to administer 
or cause to be administered unto them such oath or 
oaths as are now given for the due Execution and Per- 
formance of offices and places, and for the clearing of 
Truth in all cases whatever. And we do hereby 
authorize, and give and grant unto you full power and 
authority, with the Advice, Consent, Direction, and 
Approbation of us, the Council aforesaid, when you 
shall see cause, or shall judge any offender or offend- 
ers in criminal matters who have been found guilty 
and condemned by the Courts of Justice, properly 
erected, or for any fines or forfeitures due unto the 
State, fit objects of mercy, to pardon all such offend- 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 57 

ers, and to remit all such fines and forfeitures [wilful 
murder only excepted], in which case ycu shall like- 
wise have power, upon extraordinary occasions, to 
grant Reprieves unto the offenders until you may be 
further advised in the premises. And we do by these 
presents give and grant unto you, the said Button 
Gwinnett, with the advice and consent of the Council, 
by yourself, or by your Captain and Commander by 
you to be authorized, full power and authority to levy, 
arm, muster, command and employ all persons whatso- 
ever residing within the said State of Georgia under 
your Government ; and, as occasion shall serve, to 
march from one place to another, or to embark them 
for the resisting and withstanding of all enemies, 
pirates, and powers coming with hostile intention 
against the State both at sea and land, if necessity 
shall require for defence of the same against the in- 
vasion or attempts of any of our enemies ; and such 
enemies, if there shall be occasion, to pursue and 
prosecute in or out of the limits of this State : and, if 
it shall so please God, them to vanquish, apprehend, 
and take ; and being taken, either according to law 
to put to death, or keep and preserve alive at your 
discretion. 

" And we do hereby give and grant unto you full 
power and authority, by and with the advice and 
consent of us, the said Council, to erect, raise, and 
build in the said State of Georgia, during the ad- 
journment or recess of the said Congress or Legislative 
Body, such and so many Forts, Platforms, Castles, and 
Fortifications as you, by the advice aforesaid, shall 
judge necessary: and the same or any of them to for- 
tify and furnish with ordnance, ammunition, and all 



58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

sorts of stores fit and jaecessary for the security and 
defence of the said State ; and by the advice afore- 
said, the same again to demohsh or dismantle as may 
be most convenient. And generally to do and execute 
all and every thing and things agreeable to the laws, 
regulations, and proceedings of Congress, and the 
Constitution under which you are called forth to act, 
and which to you, the said Button Gwinnett — as our 
President and Commander-in-Chief — doth, or ought 
of right to belong. 

" And we do hereby require, charge, and command 
all officers and ministers, civil and military, and all 
other inhabitants of the State of Georgia to be obedi- 
ent : aiding and assisting you, the said Button Gwin- 
nett, in the execution of this our commission, and of 
the Powers and Authorities herein contained, and ac- 
cording to the true sense and meaning thereof 

" This commission to continue and be in force until 
revoked by the Legislative authority of this State. 

" Signed and sealed by us in the Council Chamber in 
Savannah the fourth day of March in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven. 

JoNA^"" Bryan. 

ja^ dunwody. 

William Bkyan. 

Samuel Saltus. 

B. Andrew. 

Adam Brisbane. 

Jn°. B. Girardeau. 
By command. 

James Whitefield, Secretary.''^ 



Prior to issuing this commission a resolution had 



BUTTON GWINNETT 59 

been adopted by the General Assembly to add three 
battalions of infantry and a squadron of dragoons to 
the Georgia troops serving on the Continental estab- 
lishment, and to form them into a brigade. Colonel 
Lachlan Mcintosh was promoted to the rank of briga- 
dier-general, and assigned to the command of these 
forces. Gwinnett had been a candidate for this posi- 
tion, and he became thoroughly embittered by Mc- 
intosh's success. When he assumed the reins of gov- 
ernment he permitted not his anger to slumber. In 
order to mortify the military pride of his adversary 
and to impair his influence, he impressed upon the 
public mind the danger of investing army officers and 
courts-martial with powers which could possibly be 
withheld from them and entrusted to the civil authori- 
ties. Acting upon this theory, he intervened in mili- 
tary matters to such an extent that he seriously im- 
paired the discipline of the troops, and incited among 
the officers a spirit of insubordination toward the 
commanding general. Thus, when an officer was 
charged with an offense, either civil or military, Gwin- 
nett claimed the right of trying him before the Execu- 
tive Council. If detailed for special duty, or assigned 
to a temporary command of moment, he insisted that 
he should take his orders from the president and coun- 
cil. The effect of all this, as may well be imagined, 
was demoralizing to the army and most galling to 
General Mcintosh. 

Anxious to signalize his administration by a feat of 
arms, Gwinnett, acting upon the suggestion of Council, 
planned the expedition against East Florida. The 
prospect of retaliation was pleasing to the public, and 
in the breast of the president there lurked an ambi- 



60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

tious hope that he would be able to overrun and subdue 
that sparsely populaiia province and annex it to 
Georgia. Instead of entrusting its command to Gen- 
eral Mcintosh, who, as the ranking military officer of 
the State, was clearly entitled to expect and to claim 
it, Gwinnett, heaping affront upon affront, set him 
aside, and determined in person to lead the expedition. 
His deliberate purpose was, with the militia of the 
State and the Continental troops then stationed in 
Georgia, to form an army of invasion without consult- 
ing General Mcintosh on the subject, or even allowing 
him to accompany his brigade. The movement was to 
be immediate. Proclamations were printed which he 
proposed to scatter broadcast through the land so soon 
as he crossed the river St. Mary. He labored under 
the impression that, to insure success and encourage 
the inhabitants to a change of government, nothing 
would be needed save to hoist the standard of liberty 
in Florida and make a show of a supporting army. 
Advised, however, that the province of East Florida 
was in large measure peopled by loyalists from Georgia 
and South Carolina, that no reliance for subsistence 
could be placed upon the products of the region, and 
that an accumulation of supplies was requisite before 
he could venture upon the expedition, he abandoned 
his scheme as at first chimerically entertained. 

Still intent upon the consummation of his ambitious 
project, and reiterating his resolution to lead the army 
in person, he assembled his Council, denominating it for 
the time being a council of war, and concerted the fol- 
lowing plan of operations. Sawpit Bluff, twelve miles 
from the mouth of the river St. John, was designated 
as the place, and the 12th of May as the time, for the 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 61 

rendezvous of the forces which were to participate in 
the contemplated reduction of East Florida. Colonel 
Baker, with the Georgia militia, was to march by land, 
while Colonel Elbert, embarking four hundred of the 
Continental troops in three galleys and several small 
boats, was to repair by water to the point indicated. 
Having, with great difficulty, crossed the Alatamaha 
River at Fort Howe, Colonel Baker moved with only 
one hundred and nine men in the execution of the 
order entrusted to him. Near Nassau River he was 
defeated by Colonels Brown and McGirth, and his 
command was wholly dissipated. 

Colonel Elbert was sorely perplexed upon finding 
that he was commissioned to lead the Continental 
forces, detailed for the expedition, to the exclusion of 
General Mcintosh, who, as his superior officer, w\as en- 
titled to claim that distinction. He was also greatly 
concerned at the abnormal condition of affiiirs brought 
about by orders emanating from President Gwinnett 
and his Council, by which he was required to report 
directly to, and to receive his instructions from, the 
Governor and Council. Communicating with General 
Mcintosh, he advised him of the disagreeable situation 
in which he found himself, and expressed his regrets 
that the orders issued did not come through him as his 
commanding general. He even went so far as to re- 
monstrate with the Governor and Council in regard to 
this irregularity. Gwinnett, however, controlled his 
Council, insisted upon his rights as commander-in-chief, 
and, being of an imperious will and implacable in his 
hate, continued to supplant General Mcintosh and to 
subject him to humiliaticm. The detachment of Con- 
tinentals led by Colonel Elbert utterly failed in its pur- 



62 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

pose ; .and so, without benefit and pregnant with dis- 
aster, ended an expedi^n conceived in ambition and 
jealousy, planned without due caution, and sadly 
marred in its execution. 

Responding to the emergency caused by the la- 
mented death of Archibald Bulloch, and in the exer- 
cise of his gubernatorial powers, President Gwinnett 
issued a proclamation requiring the several counties of 
the State to elect delegates to a legislature which 
should convene in Savannah on the first Tuesday in 
May, 1777. The first and chief duty of this assembly 
was to elect a successor to President Bulloch. Gwin- 
nett was an avowed candidate for the position. The 
Legislature met in due season, and, after organizing 
by the selection of Dr. Noble W. Jones as speaker and 
Samuel Stirk as secretary, proceeded to the choice of 
a governor. John Adam Treutlen was elected by a 
handsome majority. Grievous was Gwinnett's disap- 
pointment. Mcintosh did not hesitate to openly avow 
his gratification at the result. In fact, he publicly and 
in the presence of the members of the Executive 
Council denounced Gwinnett as a scoundrel. The quar- 
rel between these gentlemen culminated on the 15th 
of May, when Gwinnett challenged Mcintosh to mor- 
tal combat. The challenge was promptly accepted. 
They met the next morning at a spot within the pres- 
ent limits of the city of Savannah. Pistol shots were 
exchanged at the sliort distance of four paces. Both 
were wounded in the thigh : Mcintosh dangerously, 
Gwinnett mortally. The former was confined to his 
couch for some time, and the latter, after lingering for 
four days, died of his hurt.^ 

1 For Dr. Lyiuan Hall's account of this duel, see his sketch, jbos/. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 63 

Intense excitement ensued. Dr. Lyman Hall, one of 
Gwinnett's executors and a warm personal friend of 
the deceased, and Mr. Joseph Wood brought the mat- 
ter to the notice of the Legislature, and charged the 
judicial officers with a neglect of duty in not arresting 
Mcintosh and binding him over to answer an indict- 
ment for murder. Informed of these proceedings, so 
soon as his wound permitted, the general surrendered 
himself to Judtre Glen and entered into bonds for his 
appearance. He was indicted, tried, and acquitted. 
Even this determination of the matter did not allay 
the malevolent feelings of the Gwinnett party, who, 
incensed at the loss of their leader, used every exer- 
tion to impair the influence of Mcintosh and to fetter 
his efforts in the public service. Moved by these un- 
toward circumstances, and yielding to the suggestion 
of his friends, the general consented to leave Georgia 
for the time being, and repaired to General Washing- 
ton's headquarters for assignment to duty with the 
Continental army. Nearly two years elapsed before 
he returned to the State. During that time he ren- 
dered valuable service in the common cause. 

The tradition lingers that Button Gwinnett was in- 
terred in the old cemetery in Savannah. So far as our 
information extends, no stone marks his grave, and the 
precise spot of his sepulture has faded from the recol- 
lection of succeeding generations. When the monu- 
ment which rises in front of the City Hall in Augusta, 
perpetuating the memory of the signers from Georgia 
of the Declaration of Independence, was erected, the 
hope of its patriotic builders was that it would cover 
the dust of all three of them. The mortal remains of 
Dr. Lyman Hall and of Chief Justice George Walton 



64 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

were readily found, aiicLwere then committed to the 
guardian care of this memorial shaft. After careful 
search, no trace could be discovered of the last resting- 
place of Gwinnett, and he still sleeps in a grave which 
will probably never be identified. 

Specimens of the chirography of this signer are very 
rare. He evidently wrote but little. He died in the 
forty-fifth year of his age, and his public life extended 
through only a few j'Cars. We have looked upon his 
original will. It still exists. It is a holograph. The 
following is a literal copy of it : — 

Savannah, March 15tli, 1777. 

Im sound in Body and Mind for which 1 am under 
the highest obligations to the Supreme Being. How 
long I shall remain so God only knoweth : I therefore 
Dispose of my Property^ both real and Personal in 
the Following manner. 

First. Let all my Just Debts be Discharged, then 
One half of my Real and Personal Estate remaining 
be divided between my Wife and Daughter in equal 
Shares. 

The other Half of my Estate both real and Per- 
sonal shall belong to and appertain unto the Rev*^ M"" 
Tho" Bosomworth his Heirs and Assigns forever, he 
the said Tho" Bosomworth first giving a rec* in full of 
all other Demands. 

This is my last Will and Testament and I hereby 
revoke all other Wills and Codicils. 

The above is only intended to convey my Estate in 
America. 

1 Besides liis plantation on St. Catharine Island, Mr. Gwinnett was the 
owner of Sutherland's Bluff, — a tract of a thousand acres of land in Lib- 
erty County, — and of several other parcels of well-located land. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 65 

I hereby appoint Tho^ Savage and Lyman Hall 
Esqr' as Executors to this my last Will and Testament. 

Button Gwinnett [seal]. 

Witness 
Ja' Foley. 
W" Hornby. 
Thorn' Hovenden. 

The foregoing will was admitted to" probate by 
James Whitefield, "Register of Probates," on the 30th 
of May, 1777. On the same day Lyman Hall qualified 
as Executor.^ 

It would appear by the affidavits of William Hornby 
and Thomas Hovenden, — two of the subscribing wit- 
nesses, — that while this will bears date on the 15th 
of March, 1777, it was actually published and wit- 
nessed on or about the 16th of May, 1777. Hornby's 
affidavit reads as follows : — 

Christ Church Parish } Court of Registry 
& County of Chatham ) of Probates. 

William Hornby of Savannah & State aforesaid 
Gentl" personally appeared & being sworn maketh 
Oath that the within named Button Gwinnett Esq"" did, 
on or about friday the 16th day of this inst May, de- 
liver the paper to this deponent, now produced, pur- 
porting to be his will, and said to this deponent in 
words following, viz' " this is my Will, sign as a witness 
thereto, and keep it, and if anything happens to me 
read it & you'l know what to do with it;" and this 
deponent further saith He verily believes He, the said 
Button Gwinnett, the Testator, was, at that time of 

1 The inventory and appraisement of the estate of Mr. Gwinnett are on 
file in the office of the Ordinary of Chatham County, Georgia. 
5 



06 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

sound and disposing mind and memory ; and that at 
the time He signed tl^same as a witness, He saw Ja' 
Foley's name also subscribed thereto as a witness, & 
further saith not. 

Wm. Hornby. 

Sworn the 30th 
May 1777 Before 
Jam' Whitefie'hl 
Reg' of Probates. 

Thomas Hovenden, in his affidavit, corroborates the 
statement made by Mr. Hornby. We extract the fol- 
lowing from his oath made before the Register of Pro- 
bates on the 30th of May, 1777 : " The within named 
Button Gwinnett Esq' dec*^ did, on or about the 16th 
day of this ins* May, deliver the paper now produced, 
in his presence, to M' W" Hornby, a subscribing Wit- 
ness thereto, saying at the same time ' that it was His 
Will,' or words to that purpose, and asked this de- 
ponent to sign the same ; and this deponent says that 
He did sign his Name thereto as a Witness, & further 
saith that He is well acquainted with the Hand writing 
of the said Button Gwinnett Esq"" dec'\ and that he 
verily believes that the said paper now produced as 
his will is in the Hand writing of the said Button 
Gwinnett," etc. 

The period w\as hazardous, and life peculiarly uncer- 
tain. We conclude that Gwinnett drew his will at the 
time the instrument bears date in anticipation of lead- 
ing his projected expedition against East Florida, and 
then signed it, but failed to have it witnessed. In 
this state the instrument remained in his hands initil, 
warned by the impending duel with Mcintosh, and 
upon the eve of that unfortunate affair, he completed 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 67 

its publication and committed it to the care of Mr. Wil- 
liam Hornby, one of the subscribing witnesses, with an 
injunction which denotes at least some apprehension on 
his part of the possibility of his encountering a mortal 
hurt in the approaching combat. 

Brief but brilliant was the career of Button Gwin- 
nett. Rising like a meteor, he shot athwart the zenith 
of the young commonwealth, concentrating the gaze 
of all, and, in a short moment, was seen no more. 
Within the compass of a very few years are his brilliant 
aspirations, triumphs, and reverses compressed. With- 
out the accident of birth or the assistance of fortune, 
he was advanced, and that most rapidly, to the highest 
positions within the gift of his countrymen. Insepa- 
rably associated is his name with the charter of Amer- 
ican independence. Of his intelligence, force of char- 
acter, ability to command success, courage, indomitable 
will, tenacity of purpose, patriotism, love of liberty, and 
devotion to the cause of American freedom, he gave 
proof most abundant. But he was ambitious, covetous 
of power, strong in his prejudices, intolerant of opposi- 
tion, and violent in his hate. 

Of this signer we believe no well-authenticated por- 
trait exists. His name dignifies a county in Georgia, 
but we know of none among the living in this State in 
whose veins courses a drop of blood inherited from, or 
kindred with, that of Button Gwinnett. 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 

Tins gentleman — the third son of the Honorable 
James Habersham and Mary Bolton — was born on 
the 23d of December, 1754, at Beverley, the country 
seat of his father, about nine miles from Savannah, 
Georgia. He was baptized by the Reverend Bartholo- 
mew Zouberbuhler, the rector and incumbent of Christ 
Church in that city. His preparatory studies having 
been completed at home, he matriculated at Princeton 
College, New Jersey. From this institution he gradu- 
ated with distinction. 

Scarcely had he attained unto manhood when he 
identified himself with the Revolutionists, and was soon 
numbered among the most zealous advocates of Amer- 
ican independence. 

On the 7th of January, 1776, he was mustered into 
continental service as the first lieutenant of the first 
company of the battalion raised at the charge of the 
United Colonies for the protection of Georgia. Of this 
command his brother Joseph was commissioned Major. 
With three hundred men of that battalion he was pres- 
ent when Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, from the hastily 
constructed works upon Yamacraw Bluff, armed with 
three four-pounder iron field-pieces, opened fire upon 
the British troops led by Maitland and Grant, who 
were seeking to capture and take to sea the rice-laden 
vessels congregated at the wharves and along the op- 
posite shore of the Savannah River. 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 69 

He was shortly afterwards announced as Brigade- 
Major of the Georgia forces upon the Continental estab- 
lishment, of which Lachlan Mcintosh was the ranking 
officer and Samuel Elbert the second in command. In 
this capacity he accompanied the expeditions planned, 
and launched in succession by General Charles Lee, 
by President Button Gwinnett, and by General Robert 
Howe and Governor John Houstoun, for the reduc- 
tion of St. Augustine and the subjugation of Florida. 
At Fort Tonyn, where marked dissensions arose be- 
tween General Robert Howe commandina^ the Conti- 
nental troops, Governor Houstoun controlling the 
Georgia militia, and Commodore Oliver Bowen con- 
ducting the supporting fleet, Major Habersham was a 
member of the council of war which, in view of the 
distractions existent in the American camp, because of 
the sickness prevailing in the army, and in considera- 
tion of the intervening obstacles, resolved it was im- 
prudent to advance further and attempt the passage 
of the river St. John. These expeditions were char- 
acterized by lack of preparation, mismanagement, dis- 
agreement between commanders, surprising mistakes, 
vexatious delays, and fruitless expenditures of men 
and munitions. Upon the return of the Georgia Con- 
tinental troops from Fort Tonyn, Colonel John Mcin- 
tosh, with one hundred and twenty-seven men, was 
posted at Sunbury. General Howe repaired to Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, and the regiments of Colonels El- 
bert and White were sent to Savannah. 

An anticipated season of rest and comparative inac- 
tion was speedily interrupted by the unexpected ad- 
vance from Florida of two columns, led respectively 
by Colonels Faser and Prevost, — the one moving by 



70 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

land and the other trm^ported by water, — both hav- 
ing as their objective the capture of the town of Sun- 
bury, and, in the end, the investment of Savannah. 

While Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Prevost's progress 
was being sharply contested by Colonels Baker and 
White and by General Screven, Colonel Elbert, with 
his command, took post at Ogeechee ferry and forti- 
fied that crossing, intending there to deliver battle if 
the English commander succeeded in penetrating to 
that point. The failure of Colonel Fuser to effect a 
junction at Sunbury on the expected day, and the 
stout resistance offered, induced Colonel Prevost to re- 
trace his steps. Treating the population as in open 
rebellion against a lawful sovereign, and utterly ignor- 
ing all rights of the invaded, that officer, upon his re- 
treat, burnt Midway Meeting-House, and all dwellings, 
negro quarters, rice-barns, and improvements within 
his reach. The entire region was ruthlessly plundered. 
The track of the retiring column was marked by smok- 
ing ruins. British soldiers and Tories, unrestrained, 
indulged in indiscriminate pillage, appropriating plate, 
bedding, wearing apparel, and everything capable of 
easy transportation. The inhabitants, particularly of 
St. John's Parish, were subjected to indignities, and 
were, in many instances, reduced to absolute want. 

Acting under a commission from Colonel Elbert, 
Major Habersham held an interview with Prevost, in 
which certain stipulations designed to protect the in- 
vaded territory from pillage and conflagration were 
proposed. The English commander, however, declined 
to give any guaranty in the premises, and insisted that 
inasmuch as the inhabitants were rebels against the 
Crown they must abide all consequences, how grievous 
soever they might be. 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 71 

After the affair near Midway Meeting - House, in 
which General Screven was severely wounded, Major 
Habersham bore a flag to Colonel Prevost, requesting, 
in the name of Colonel Elbert, permission to furnish 
the captured general with such medical aid as his 
dangerous situation demanded. In response. Doctors 
Braidie and Alexander were permitted to attend upon 
him; but they found, upon examination, that his wounds 
were mortal, and that their surgical skill was impotent 
to prolong his valuable life. 

During the successful assault by Colonel Campbell 
upon the American forces under General Howe, posted 
to the east and south of Savannah for its protection, 
on the 29th of December, 1778, Major Habersham, 
still acting as Brigade-Major to Colonel Elbert who 
held the left of the line, is said, by Captain Alexander 
Wylly, to have been entrusted with the service of a 
part of the rebel artillery. Finding it impossible, in 
the face of the impetuous charge of the enemy, to 
withdraw his field-pieces, and, at the supreme moment, 
ordering his cannoneers to save themselves, he refused 
to quit his guns until they were completely enveloped 
by the foe. The story runs that, perceiving personal 
capture inevitable, he deliberately broke his seal upon 
one of the cannon to prevent its passing into the own- 
ership of his captors. 

When the retreat was sounded a panic ensued, and 
the Americans made their way, as best they could 
and in a confused manner, through the town. Before 
the retiring army gained the head of the causeway 
traversing Musgrove's swamp west of Savannah, — the 
only pass by which the retrograde movement could be 
accomplished, — the enemy secured a position so as to 



72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

interrupt the crossing. By heroic exertions Colonel 
Roberts kept the BriMli at bay until the American 
centre effected its escape. The rebel right wing, being 
between two fires, suffered severely and was well-nigh 
annihilated by wounds, death, and capture. The left, 
under the command of Colonel Elbert, — who always 
fought to the last, — continued the conflict with such 
gallantry and pertinacity that escape by the cause- 
way became impracticable. That officer was therefore 
compelled to lead his troops, after forcing their way 
through the town, through the rice-fields lying be- 
tween the causeway and the Savannah River, In 
doino; so he encountered a damaginor fire from the 
enemy, who, pressing forward, had taken possession of 
the eastern end of the causway and of the adjacent 
high grounds of Ewensburg. Reaching Musgrove 
Creek, he found it filled with water, for the tide w^as 
high. Consequently only those of his command who 
could swim succeeded in crossing, and this they did 
with the loss of their arms and accoutrements. All 
others were either drowned or captured. Among the 
latter was Major Habersham. Colonel George Wal- 
ton, badly wounded, had fallen into the hands of the 
enemy. 

In this disastrous and sadly conducted affair the 
Americans lost eighty - three killed and wounded. 
Thirty -eight officers and four hundred and fifteen 
non-commissioned officers and privates were made cap- 
tive. Forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mor- 
tars, a considerable quantity of small arms and ammu- 
nition, a fort, the shipping in port, and, above all, the 
capital of Georgia, were among the substantial trophies 
of this victory. Upon the fall of Savannah, Southern 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 73 

Georgia quickly passed under the dominion of the 
king's forces. Rapidly advancing, Colonel Campbell 
pushed his exultant column as far as Augusta, and 
even beyond. 

The next occasion upon which Major Habersham, 
whose detention by the enemy does not appear to 
have been of long duration, was brought face to face 
with the British was in the battle of Brier Creek, when 
General Ash was surprised and defeated by Colonel 
Prevost. 

We may not here revive the memories of an en- 
gagement which reflected so severely upon the repu- 
tation of an American general and inflicted such loss 
upon rebel arms. It is proper to state, however, that 
the only ray of light amid the gloom of the whole 
affair was shed by the gallantry of Colonel Elbert and 
his command. That officer, assisted by Lieutenant- 
Colonel John Mcintosh and Major John Habersham, 
with sixty continental troops, one hundred and fifty 
Georgia militia, and a field-piece, held the left of the 
line of battle. Although the right and centre quickly 
broke and fled in wild confusion, he prolonged the con- 
flict until nearly every member of his force was either 
killed, wounded, or captured. If we are correctly in- 
formed, Major Habersham was here, a second time, 
made prisoner. He was exchanged, however, in sea- 
son to participate in the siege of Savannah in Septem- 
ber and October, 1779, which culminated in the ill- 
advised, bloody, and futile assault by the allied army 
under Count D'Estaing and General Lincoln upon the 
British lines. 

The depressing effect upon the king's forces in 
America produced by the surrender of Lord Cornwallis 



74 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

at Yorktown, the jiincdpn of the auxiliary troops un- 
der General St. Clair, and the recent successes of Gen- 
eral Greene in the Carolinas enabled that officer, in 
January, 1782, to redeem his promise for the relief of 
Georgia. General W.ayne was detached for that pur- 
pose. " To reinstate, as far as might be possible, the 
authority of the Union within the limits of Georgia " 
was the mission of the hero of Stony Point. 

Ever since Savannah, in December, 1778, passed 
into the hands of the enemy, it had become a favorite 
resort of the Creeks and Cherokees. There were depu- 
tations from the Indian nations entertained. There 
were royal presents distributed, and there were con- 
cocted schemes for the annoyance of the republicans. 
Aware of his acquaintance with, and conscious of the 
influence he was capable of exerting over the natives, 
knowing that parties of Indians still visited that town, 
and desirous of either winning them over to the Amer- 
ican cause or of inducing them to remain neutral in 
the pending struggle, General Wayne dispatched Major 
Habersham to intercept and conciliate them. He was 
attended by Major Francis Moore, in command of some 
South Carolina cavalry, and by Captain Patrick Carr, 
who led a body of mounted militia. At first Major 
Habersham was successful in his negotiations. His 
plans were subsequently frustrated by reason of the 
indiscretion and disobedience of a lieutenant who, with 
a portion of the mounted militia, slew several of the 
Indians present, and then, making a rapid descent 
upon Sunbury, killed eleven loyalists, residents of that 
town. Matters were further complicated by the con- 
duct of Major Moore, who, learning that the Creek 
Indians had stolen some horses on the frontier of Lib- 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 75 

erty County, insisted upon going in pursuit of them. 
These and similar transactions defeated Habersham's 
mission, which otherwise might have resulted in ac- 
complishing much good. 

So closely was Savannah now invested by the forces 
under General Wayne, and so desperate grew the situa- 
tion of the king's soldiers in Georgia, that on the 23d 
of May, 1782, Sir Guy Carleton issued, at New York, 
an order for the evacuation both of that town and 
province. The authorities were notified that trans- 
ports would be provided for conveying away not only 
the troops and military stores, but also Governor 
Wright and all adherents of the Crown who might 
desire to depart. Although not unanticipated, this an- 
nouncement created a profound impression alike upon 
soldiers and civilians within the royal lines. The lat- 
ter were most anxious to ascertain what their status 
would be under the changed condition of affairs, and 
to secure from the republican authorities pledges that 
they would not be molested either in person or prop- 
erty. Negotiations were accordingly opened, and to 
Major John Habersham — an officer in the Georgia 
line, a native of Savannah, a gentleman whose per- 
sonal character inspired confidence, and whose high- 
toned sentiment, correct conduct, and polished address 
commanded the thorough confidence and respect even 
of those who were inimical to the cause which he 
espoused — were they confided on the part of the pa- 
triots. That they were conducted by him in all fair- 
ness and with becoming dignity, intelligence, and fidel- 
ity, it seems scarcely necessary to add. 

Savannah having been occupied by General Wayne 
on the 11th of July, 1782, before setting out to rejoin 



76 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

General Greene, he defied Lientenant-Colonel James 
Jackson with his legion, and Major Habersham with 
liis corps of new recruits, to take charge of that town 
and vicinage until civil government should be regu- 
larly established. So far as Georgia was concerned, the 
war was practically ended. Following close upon the 
heels of the military came the members of the Execu- 
tive Council. The Legislature quickly convened, and 
entered upon the passage of such laws as were de- 
manded by the emergency and were deemed most con- 
ducive to the general good. 

By the disqualifying act of July 6, 1780, passed at 
Savannah by the Koyalist Assembly, Major Haber- 
sham, in association with other prominent members 
of the republican party in Georgia, had been declared 
incapable of holding or exercising any office of trust, 
honor, or profit. Upon the termination of English rule 
in Georgia this legislation became utterly void, and 
the penalties prescribed were subsequently reckoned 
as tributes to the worth and patriotism of those upon 
whom they were sought to be inflicted. 

As a proof of the public esteem in which he was 
held he was, in 1784, elected president of the Execu- 
tive Council. In that capacity he opened the Land 
Court in Augusta. 

During the years 1785 and 1786 he was a member, 
from Georgia, of the Continental Congress. In Octo- 
ber, 1786, as the chairman of the Commissioners ap- 
pointed for that purpose by the State of Georgia, he 
held, at Shoulder-Bone Creek, in Hancock County, a 
congress at which fifty-nine chiefs, head-men, and war- 
riors of the Creek nation were present. The delibera- 
tions of that convention resulted in the conclusion of 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 77 

a treaty, which was signed on the 3d of the following 
November, stipulating for the peaceful conduct of the 
Indians, and confirming the boundary lines as agreed 
upon in the former treaties solemnized at Augusta and 
Galphinton. 

Another important service rendered by Major Hab- 
ersham was that performed by him, as one of the Com- 
missioners from Georgia, in acconmiodating at Beaufort, 
South Carolina, in April, 1787, all differences touching 
the boundary line between those States. The agree- 
ment then reached was reduced to the form of a treaty, 
which was subsequently ratified by the Congress of 
the United States and also by the General Assembly of 
Georgia. By the action of this convention a dispute 
between sister States, which promised to be a source 
of continued irritation, was amicably and satisfactorily 
adjusted. 

It was a tribute to his reputation as a gentleman of 
liberal views and of education when, under the pro- 
visions of the Act of the General Assembly of the 
27th of January, 1785, he was constituted a member 
of the first Board of Trustees to establish the Univer- 
sity of Georgia, and '' advance the interests of litera- 
ture through the State." 

In 1789 he was nominated and confirmed as the col- 
lector of the port of Savannah. This office he con- 
tinued to hold until his death, which occurred ten 
years afterwards. He was summoned hence in the 
zenith of his usefulness, in the full possession of all his 
faculties, and at the early age of forty-five. Lanman 
fixes the date of his demise as the 19th of November, 
1799. The writer is assured by his granddaughter — 
Mrs. William Neyle Habersham — that he breathed 



78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

his last in the city of ^vannah on the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1799, just three cuiys after the lamented demise 
of General George Washington, and while the land 
was filled with mourning at the sudden departure of 
the Pater Patrice. 

Major Habersham was in all respects an estimable 
man, fearless, honest, patriotic, public-spirited, and, in 
his domestic relations, tender and true. He was the 
friend of the widow and orphan ; and, as adviser and 
guardian, in many instances rendered gratuitous and 
most acceptable service. In his official acts, and in the 
execution of the responsible trusts confided to him, he 
was upright and efficient. As an officer of the Conti- 
nental army he was prompt, courageous, and self-sacri- 
ficing. To the cause of the Revolutionists, even in its 
infancy, was his cordial allegiance given, and he never 
swerved from its support until the independence of 
the United Colonies was fully established. Upon the 
organization of the Georgia branch of the Society of 
the Order of the Cincinnati, he was complimented with 
the position of its first secretary. 

The influence which he exerted over the Creek and 
Cherokee Indians is said to have been widespread and 
salutary. If we are correctly informed, General Wash- 
ington, while President of the United States, secured 
his good offices as Indian agent for a portion of the 
Southern Department. Upon closing his accounts with 
the general government, a balance arose in Major 
Habersham's favor which remains unpaid to the present 
day. 

The following anecdote is told by a member of his 
family. On one occasion he entertained, in Savannah, 
several Indian chiefs. The leading mico of the delega- 



JOHN HABERSHAM. 79 

tion was "Mad Dog." Upon seating himself at the 
table, this chief plunged his knife into the joint of beef 
which was before him, and drew it into his plate. It 
constituted the piece de resistance of the feast. When 
informed by his host that it was subject to partition 
among his companions, the hungry savage reluctantly 
restored it to the dish, and sulked until the meal was 
concluded. A suit of clothes, however, presented by 
the Major, restored his equanimity and confirmed his 
friendship. 

The old cemetery on South Broad Street in Savan- 
nah, wherein sleep so many who were famous and 
loved in the early days of the colony and common- 
wealth, guards the dust of this distinguished Georgian ; 
and a beautiful county in the upper portion of the 
State perpetuates a family name which for nearly a 
century and a half has been here saluted with grati- 
tude and honor. 



JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 

He was the second son of the Honorable James Hab- 
ersham — a native of Yorkshire, England — and of 
Mary Bolton, and was born in Savannah, Georgia, on 
the liSthof July, 1751. 

Among the worthies who during the colonial period 
ministered to the intellectual, moral, political, and ma- 
terial development of Georgia, no one is more grate- 
fully remembered than the Honorable James Haber- 
sham. The purity of his character, the nobility of his 
aims and impulses, the utility of his acts, and the 
influence of his virtuous life were at the time, and have 
ever since been recognized and admired. 

From the date of his arrival in Savannah early in 
1738 in company with his friend the Reverend George 
Whitefield, the famous evangelist and noted philanthro- 
pist, until his demise in 1775, he was prominently 
identified with every movement which contemplated 
the amelioration of the condition of the Colonists and 
the promotion of the welfare of the Province. He is 
specially remembered in connection with the founda- 
tion, the control, and the sustentation of the Orphan 
House at Bethesda; as a most intelligent instructor 
and guide of youths; as the organizer of the earliest 
Sunday-schools ; as a capable and earnest catechist ; as 
a valued correspondent of the home authorities, keep- 
ing them advised of the progress of affliirs. and furnish- 
ing apt suggestions with regard to the administration 



JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 81 

of the Trust ; as instrumental in procuring a rescission 
of the regulation prohibiting the introduction of slave 
labor into Georgia ; as a kind and thoughtful master, 
providing for the temporal wants and the spiritual 
edification of his numerous servants ; as the founder of 
the earliest mercantile house in Savannah, enjoying 
high credit both at home and abroad, and possessing 
commercial relations with Philadelphia, New Yprk, 
Boston, the West Indies, and Eugland ; as the efficient 
secretary of the Colony ; as an energetic commissioner 
of silk-culture ; as an assistant to Mr. Graham, presi- 
dent of the Province upon the surrender, by the Trus- 
tees, of its management, and prior to the erection of 
the royal government; subsequently, as secretary and 
registrar; and, finally, as the governor pro tennpore of 
Georgia during the absence of Sir James Wright. 

For this responsible position his education, his per- 
sonal acquaintance with the inhabitants, his thorough 
knowledge of the history, development, and wants of 
the Colony, his long experience in the conduct of its 
public and domestic affairs, the purity of his character, 
and the high esteem in which he was held, admirably 
qualified him. He was the firm friend of law, order, 
the Established Church, and of the British Constitution. 
Loyal to his king, his affiliations were with those who 
obeyed the acts of Parliament, observed the orders of 
the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and 
maintained their allegiance to the throne of England. 
In this mind he lived and died. He closed his eyes 
just as the storm of the primal Revolution began to 
overshadow the land. While his sons espoused the 
"patriot cause," their honored father kf^pt fiiith with 
his king; and, in departing, lamented the division of 
6 



82 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

political sentiment Avliicli was engendering fratricidal 
strife and betokening ^)loody and relentless war. 

It excites no surprise that the elder, the wealthier, 
and the more influential citizens of Georgia should, in 
the main, at this epoch, have tenaciously clung to the 
fortunes of the Crown and sincerely deprecated all idea 
of a separation from the mother country. To such a 
course were they prompted by natural allegiance, by 
tradition, and by the strongest ties. Besides all this, of 
the American colonies Georgia had subsisted most gen- 
erously upon royal bounty, and had been the recipient of 
favors far beyond those accorded to sister plantations. 
The younger members of the leading families, however, 
in many instances, sympathized with the revolutionists, 
and thus division arose even within the household. 
While James Habersham, Noble Jones, the elder Hous- 
toun, the elder Tattnall, and others enjoying distinc- 
tion in the annals of the Colony, avowed and main- 
tained to the last their devotion to the realm, their 
sons were found among the earliest and the most potent 
advocates of a speedy and radical separation from the 
parent nation.^ 

1 In an old Family Bible of the Habersham family appears the following 
entry : " James Habersham, the most respected and lamented Parent of 
the persons whose births and deaths are recorded in this Sacred Book, 
was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, in the year lil2, and died at 
Brunswick, New Jersey, 28th August, 1775, aged 63 years. His corpse, 
attended by two of his sons who were with him at the time of his decease, 
•was carried to New York and interred in a vault of Trinity Church, pre- 
paratory to its removal to Savannah, — the funeral service being performed 
by the Rector of that church. 

" On the 14th of November [following] the corpse was landed from the 
Sloop Hope, — Captain Andrew Brown, — and deposited in the family 
vault in our Cemetery [on South Broad Street, in Savannah, Georgia]. 

" He was among the early and most useful settlers of the Province of 
Georgia, and discharged some of the most honorable trusts under the 



JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 83 

After a preparatory course of study pursued in the 
best schools in Savannah, Joseph Habersham repaired 
to Princeton College, then under the presidency of the 
famous Doctor Witherspoon, and there completed his 
colleo^iate education. While at colleo:e he exhibited 
that quick, ardent temper, that brave and chivalrous 
spirit, and that independence of thought and action? 
which so signally characterized him in after life. Re- 
turning home he at once and unhesitatingly avowed his 
sympathies with the " Liberty Boys," and was by them 
accorded position replete alike with responsibility, with 
honor, and with danger. 

In association with Dr. Noble Wj^mberley Jones, 
Edward Telfair, William Gibbons, Joseph Clay, John 
Milledge, and a few others, — most of them members 
of the Council of Safety, and all zealous in the cause of 
American liberty, — at a late hour on the night of the 
11th of May, 1775, he broke open the king's magazine 
in Savannah, and removed therefrom some six hundred 
pounds of gunpowder ; a portion of which, if we may 
credit a well-approved tradition, was forwarded to Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, and issued to the rebel army. 

As a member of the Council of Safety, he corre- 
sponded with the Continental Congress and with other 
patriotic bodies, and was instant in devising measures 
for the defense of Georgia and the enkindling of a war- 
like flame within her borders. 

In July, 1775, under the joint leadership of Joseph 
Habersham and Captain Bo wen, a detachment of picked 

Royal Government with such unsullied Integrity, Loyalty, and Independ- 
ence, as to acquire for him the esteem and respect of the wise and the 
good of our Community. 

" He was a sincere Believer in the Christian Religion, and lived up to 
its precepts as far as the infirmities of our Nature would allow." 



84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

men, conveyed in a G^^gia iirnied schooner^ commis- 
sioned by Congress, effected, at the mouth of the 
Savannah River, the capture of Captain Maitland's ship 
direct from London and freighted with gunpowder and 
other mihtary stores. At the earnest soHcitation of the 
Continental Congress, five thousand pounds of this pow- 
der were forwarded to Philadelphia, where they w^ere 
issued to the armies of the United Colonies. From the 
same source were the magazines of Georgia and South 
Carolina supplied. 

Of the Provincial Congress, which convened in Sa- 
vannah on the 4tli of July, 1775, and placed the Prov- 
ince of Georgia " on the same footing with her sister 
colonies," he was a leading member; and on the 7th of 
January in the following year he was appointed major 
of the battalion raised for the protection of Georgia, of 
which Lachlan Mcintosh was made colonel, and Samuel 
Elbert lieutenant-colonel. Subsequently, he rose to 
the rank of colonel in the Continental army. 

When the Council of Safety resolved upon the arrest 
and confinement of Sir James Wright, the royal gover- 
nor, so that there might be no longer any show of Eng- 
lish dominion within the limits of the province. Major 
Habersham volunteered for and successfully performed 
the service. Governor Wright was arrested in his res- 
idence, which occupied the lot at a later date graced by 
the home of Governor Telfair. Through the muni- 
ficence of his daughters, this Telfair mansion has been 
converted into an academy of arts and sciences. 

The bravery of the act cannot be too highly com- 

^ This schooner, armed with " ten carriage guns and many swivels," and 
carrjing a complement of fifty men, is said to have been the first provincial 
vessel commissioned for naval warfare in the Revolution; and this the first 
capture made by order of any Congress in America. 



JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 85 

mended ; and the physical courage displayed was tran- 
scended by the moral heroism involved in thus openly 
defying the power of the Realm, and in humbling the 
duly constituted representative of the Crown in the 
presence of the Colony he was commissioned to rule. 
The effect was startling, — dramatic. 

In frustrating the attempt of Captain Barclay and 
Major Grant to capture the shipping lying in the port 
of Savannah, during the memorable siege of Savannah 
in September and October, 1779, and on various occa- 
sions during the progress of the War of the Revolution, 
Colonel Habersham rendered gallant and important 
service. 

The struggle ended, he was twice honored by an 
election to the Speaker's chair in the General Assembly 
of his native State. From 1785 to 1786 he was a del-- 
egate to the Continental Congress, and in 1788 was a 
member of the convention which ratified the Federal 
Constitution. In 1792 he was mayor of the city of 
Savannah. The year previous he was one of the com- 
mittee which complimented President Washington with 
an address of welcome upon the occasion of his visit to 
Savannah. 

By President Washington was he appointed, in 1795, 
Postmaster-General of the United States. This posi- 
tion he filled with entire acceptability also during the 
presidential term of the elder Adams. Upon the acces- 
sion of Mr. Jefferson, he was the recipient of a polite 
note conveying a tender of the office of Treasurer of 
the United States. Interpreting this as an intimation 
that his resignation of the position of Postmaster- 
General would be agreeable to the newly elected Pres- 



86 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ident, he promptly Irorrendered his portfolio ' and 
returned to Savannah, where, entering upon a mercan- 
tile life, he essayed to repair a fortune which had been 
seriously dissipated by the calamities of war.^ In 1802 
he became the president of the Branch Bank of the 
United States at Savannah. This office he retained 
until his death, which occurred on the 17th of Novem- 
ber, 1815. 

The commercial house of Harris & Habersham, or- 
ganized by his father in 1749, was, after the lapse of 
many years, practically revived by Colonel Habersham. 
To the present day it has been perpetuated by mem- 
bers of the Habersham family, and at all times with 
marked probity, influence, and success. 

"We have said," remarks another, "that Colonel 
Habersham was quick and ardent in temper ; but, 

^ It is believed that in this removal of Colonel Habersham — indirectly 
and delicately compassed as it was by Mr. Jefferson — occurred one of the 
earliest illustrations of the application of the doctrine, " to the victors be- 
long the spoils." His selection by General Washington to fill the office of 
Postmaster-General of the United States was wholly unsolicitetl on his 
part, and must be regarded as a special tribute to the character and ability 
of Colonel Habersham. " At a period when so many, from great and 
devoted service to the country, had claims to office, and these claims well 
known and appreciated, and when the selection was made by Washington, 
this appointment was the best evidence of his great merit and of the gen- 
eral estimation in which he was held. In this office, as has been already 
stated, he continued until the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency. 
But he retained the office so lon^ by no crinjiinsr or truckling to the hifjlier 
authorities; for the President, Mr. Adams, having told him that the post- 
office department was an Augean stable, and must be cleansed, — meaning 
that the postmasters who were of the opposite party must be removed, — 
Colonel Habersham replied that these officers had discharged their duty 
faithfully, and that therefore he would not remove them, but that the Pres- 
ident could remove the Postmaster- General. This, however, Mr. Adams, 
it seems, did not think proper to do." Natio7ial Portrait Gallery, vol. iv., 
article, "Joseph Habersham." 

2 He was a member of the connnercial house of Joseph Clay & Company. 



JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 87 

although quick to take offense, he was ready and 
anxious to make atonement for the slightest wrong ; 
kind and indulgent to his slaves ; humane and liberal 
to the poor; strict in the performance of all his con- 
tracts; tenacious of his own as he had been of the 
rights of his country. Allowing to others the same in- 
dependent and frank expression of opinion which he 
always exercised for himself, he may with truth be pro- 
nounced to have been a fine specimen of that noble, 
generous, and chivalric race which achieved the liberty 
and independence of our happy country. 



LYMAN HALL. 

The subject of this sketch was a descendant in the 
fifth generation of John Hall, wlio, coming from Coven- 
try, England, crossed the Atlantic in the ship Griffin, 
and, after a sojourn in Boston and New Haven, estab- 
lished his home at Wallingford, Connecticut. In this 
village Lyman Hall, son of the Hon. John Hall and 
Mary Street, was born on the 12th of April, 1724. 

Graduating from Yale College in 1747, in a class of 
twenty-eight members, several of whom attained distinc- 
tion in after life, he entered upon the study of theology 
under the guidance of his uncle. Rev. Samuel Hall. His 
purpose undergoing a change he abandoned the idea of 
becoming a minister of the gospel, and applied himself 
to the acquisition of a medical education. After quite 
a thorough preliminary course he was admitted to the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine, married Mary Osborne, 
and commenced the practice of his profession in his 
native town. 

Early in 1697 a body of Puritans from the towns of 
Dorchester, Roxbury, and Milton, in Massachusetts, 
taking with them their pastor. Rev. Joseph Lord, and 
proclaiming their desire to encourage the foundation 
of churches and the promotion of religion in the South- 
ern planations, removed with their families and personal 
effects and formed a new residence at Dorchester, on 
the left bank of the Ashley River, not many miles 
above Charlestown in South Carolina. Here these 



LYMAN HALL. 89 

enterprising colonists multiplied in numbers and in- 
creased in wealth, exerting a strong moral and politi- 
cal influence. Attracted by tidings of the prosperity 
of this settlement, and anxious to advance his profes- 
sional and personal interests, Dr. Hall — himself in full 
sympathy with the religious tenets of these Congrega- 
tionalists — in the twenty-eighth year of his age aban- 
doned his home at Wallingford, and cast his lot among 
the Puritan dwellers at Dorchester and Beach Hill in 
South Carolina. He was cordially welcomed, and 
appears at once to have secured the confidence of the 
community. 

After a residence of rather more than fifty years in 
this swamp region of Carolina, finding their lands im- 
poverished and insufficient for the rising generation, 
Dorchester and Beach Hill proving unhealthy, — the 
good reports of the lands in southern Georgia having 
been confirmed upon the personal inspection of certain 
members of the society who had been sent for that 
purpose, and a grant ^ of 22,400 acres of rich land hav- 
ing been secured from the Georgia authorities, — the 
members of the Dorchester society, in 1752, began 
moving into what is now the swamp region of Lib- 
erty County. This territory lay between Mount Hope 
Swamp on the north and Bull Town Swamp on the 
south. Begun in 1752, the immigration continued 
until 1771, and embraced about three hundred and 
fifty whites and fifteen hundred negro slaves. The 
influx of this population was most marked during the 
years 1754, 1755, and 1756. It was about this time 
that Dr. Hall, following the fortunes of his newly formed 
friends, accompanied them to the Midway settlement, 

^ This grant was subsequently enlarged by the addition of 9,950 acres. 



90 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and became the ownei^ a small plantation a few miles 
north of Midway Meeting-House on the line of the 
Savannah and Darien highway, — a road connecting 
the northern and southern confines of the province, 
which had been completed under the guidance of Tomo- 
chi-chi and by the command of General Oglethorpe. 
The region into which the Dorchester congregation 
thus immigrated was known as the " Midway district." 
The country was densely wooded, marish, and filled 
with game. Ducks and geese in innumerable quanti- 
ties frequented the low grounds, creeks, and lagoons. 
Wild turkeys and deer abounded. Bears and beavers 
dwelt in the swamps, and buffalo herds wandered in the 
neighborhood. There was no lack of squirrels, rac- 
coons, opossums, rabbits, snipe, woodcock, cranes, herons, 
and rice-birds. Wildcats and hawks were the pest of 
the region, while the cry of the cougar was often heard 
in the depths of the vine-clad woods. The waters were 
alive with fishes, alligators, terrapins, and snakes. 

In utter disregard of the manifest laws of health, 
these immigrants located their dwellings and planta- 
tion quarters on the edges of the swamps, and in such 
malarial situations passed the entire year. While corn, 
potatoes, and peas were planted on the upland, chief 
attention was bestowed upon the cultivation of rice. 
To that end, the sw^amps, at great labor, were cleared, 
ditched, and drained. A miasmatic soil was thus ex- 
posed to the action of the sun ; and, as a direct conse- 
quence of injudicious location and a too frequent in- 
attention to domestic comfort, occurred violent sickness 
and considerable mortality. 

Dr. Hall found ample employment for his best pro- 
fessional skill, and endeared himself to the community 



LYMAN HALL. 91 

by his unremitting exertions to counteract the per- 
nicious influences of bilious fevers during the summer 
and fall, and pleurisies in the winter and spring. 

In 1758 Mark Carr conveyed three hundred acres of 
land bordering upon Midway River to certain trustees, 
with instructions to lay out a town to be called Sun- 
bury. So soon as the lots were surveyed and desig- 
nated, many members of the Midway congregation, at- 
tracted by the beauty and salubrity of the location, 
became purchasers, and there established their summer 
homes. Among them was Dr. Lyman Hall, who bought 
two of the most desirable lots, numbers 33 and 34, 
fronting on the bay. Here he built a residence, and 
spent most of his time when not actively employed in 
visiting his patients. His reputation as a successful 
practitioner and sympathizing friend was most enviable. 
In fact, he speedily became the leading physician of the 
town and adjacent country. His polite address, liter- 
ary attainments, public spirit, social habits, thoughtful 
views, and well-rounded character united in renderins: 
him popular and influential with the inhabitants of 
St. John's Parish. That he entertained a lively inter- 
est in public affiiirs, and enjoyed the confidence of his 
fellow-citizens, is evident from the prominence accorded 
to him when the differences between England and her 
American colonies were seriously discussed, and the 
question of a separation from the mother country was 
gravely considered. His sympathies from the first were 
with the " Liberty Boys," and his arguments and labors 
were boldly expended in compassing liberation from 
kingly rule. Georgia occupied a position peculiar 
among her sister colonies. Since her settlement she 
had received by grant of Parliament nearly £200,000, 



92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

besides generous bounfIR extended in aid of silk culture 
and various agricultural products. The paternal care 
of the Crown had been kindly and signally manifested 
in her behalf. As a natural consequence, there existed a 
marked division of sentiment upon the political ques- 
tions which agitated the community during the years 
immediately preceding open rupture between England 
and America. The royal party was active and strong, 
and it required no little effort on the part of the rebels to 
acquire the mastery and place the province fairly within 
the lists of the revolutionists. The line of demarcation 
was sometimes so sharply drawn that father was arrayed 
against son, and brother against brother. Thus, not to 
multiply examples, the Hon. James Habersham and 
Colonel Noble Jones maintained their allcij-iance to the 
Crown, while their sons were among the foremost cham- 
pions of the rights claimed by the rebels. The cruel 
effects of such disagreements, experienced prior to and 
during the progress of the Revolution, were projected 
beyond even the final establishment of the republic. 
Governor Wright was most energetic in upholding the 
fortunes of his royal master, and succeeded in delaying 
action on the part of the Colony. Through his influ- 
ence, Georgia was not represented in the first session of 
the Continental Congress. The Parish of St. John — 
which then possessed nearly one third of the aggregate 
wealth of Georgia, and the citizens of which were n6ted 
for their thrift, courage, honesty, and determination — 
chafed under the inaction of the province, which bred 
dissatisfaction at home, and called down denunciation 
most violent from the republican party in South Caro- 
lina. The Puritan element in the parish, cherishing 
and proclaiming intolerance of Established Church and 



LYMAN HALL. 93 

of the divine right of kings, impatient of restraint, ac- 
customed to independent thought and action, and care- 
less of associations which encouraged tender memories 
of and love for the mother country, asserted its hatreds, 
its affiliations, and its hopes with no uncertain utter- 
ance, and appears to have controlled the action of the 
entire parish. In commenting upon the disturbed con- 
dition of affairs. Governor Wright advised the Earl of 
Dartmouth that the head of the rebellion in Georgia 
should be located in St. John's Parish, and that the rev- 
olutionary measures there inaugurated were to be 
mainly referred to the influence of the "descendants 
of New England people of the Puritan independent 
sect," who, " retaining a strong tincture of republican 
or Oliverian principles, have entered into an agreement 
among themselves to adopt both the resolutions and 
associations of the Continental Congress." 

On the revolutionary altars erected within the Mid- 
way district were the fires of resistance to the dominion 
of England earliest kindled ; and of all the patriots of 
that uncompromising community Lyman Hall, by his 
counsel, exhortations, and determined spirit, added stout- 
est fuel to the flames. Between the immigrants from 
Dorchester and the distressed Bostonians existed not 
only the ties of a common lineage, but also sympathies 
born of kindred religious, moral, social, and political 
education. It is therefore not difficult to perceive why 
the Midway settlement declared at such an early period 
and in such an emphatic manner for the revolutionists. 

Dissatisfied with the failure of the Savannah Congress 
to place the province in direct association with the other 
twelve American colonies, the inhabitants of St. John's 
Parish, under the leadership of Lyman Hall, resolved 



94 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

" to exert themselves^ the utmost, and to make every 
sacrifice that men impressed with the strongest sense 
of their rights and liberties, and warm with the most 
benevolent feelings for their oppressed brethren, can 
make to stand fiimly or fall gloriously in the common 
cause." They called a convention of their own, ex- 
tending invitations to the inhabitants of other parishes, 
in the hope " that, if a majority of the parishes would 
unite with them, they would send deputies to join the 
General Congress, and faithfully and religiously abide 
by and conform to such determination as should there 
be entered into, and come from thence recommended." 

This effort failing of success, on the 9th of Februar}'', 
1775, at a meeting of the inhabitants of St. John's 
Parish, — convened at Midway and presided over by 
Lyman Hall, — Joseph Wood, Daniel Roberts, and Sam- 
uel Stevens, members of the parish committee, were 
deputed with a carefully prepared letter to repair to 
Charlestown, South Carolina, and request of the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence their "permission to form an 
alliance with them, and to conduct trade and commerce 
according to the Act of Non-importation to which they 
had already acceded." Among other arguments ad- 
vanced in that communication, framed and signed by 
Dr. Hall as chairman, we find the following: — 

" Our being a parish of a non-associated province 
cannot, we presume, prevent our joining the other 
provinces, as the restrictions mentioned in the 14th 
clause of the General Association must, as we apprehend, 
be considered as a general rule only, and respects this 
province considered in a mixed or promiscuous sense ; 
but as we of this parish are a body detached from the 
rest by our resolutions and association, and sufficiently 



LYMAN HALL. 95 

distinct by local situation, large enough for particular 
notice, and have been treated as such by a particular 
address from the late Continental Congress, adjoining a 
seaport, and in that respect capable of conforming to 
the General Association, and (if connected with you) 
with the same fidelity as a distinct parish of your own 
province : therefore we must be considered as compre- 
hended within the spirit and equitable meaning of the 
Continental Association, and we are assured you will not 
condemn the innocent with the guilty, especially when 
a due separation is made between them." 

Beaching Charlestown on the 23d of February, Messrs. 
Wood, Roberts, and Stevens waited upon the General 
Committee and earnestly endeavored to accomplish their 
mission. While expressing their admiration of the pa- 
triotism of the parish, and entreating its citizens to 
persevere in their laudable exertions, the Carolinians 
deemed it "a violation of the Continental Association 
to remove the prohibition in favor of any ^art of a 
province." 

Disappointed, and yet not despairing, the inhabitants 
of St. John's Parish " resolved to prosecute their claims 
to an equality with the Confederated Colonies." Having 
adopted certain resolutions by which they obligated 
themselves to hold no commerce with Savannah or 
other places except under the supervision of a commit- 
tee, and then only with a view to procuring the neces- 
saries of life, and having avowed their entire sympathy 
with all the articles and declarations promulgated by 
the General Congress, the inhabitants of St. John's Par- 
ish elected Dr. Lyman Ilall as a delegate to represent 
them in the Continental Congress. This appointment 
occurred on the 21st of March, 1775, and was conferred 



96 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

in direct recognition#P his prominent and persistent 
services in behalf of the revolutionists. No more suit- 
able selection could have been made. Among the prom- 
inent citizens of the parish no one enjoyed a more 
enviable reputation for courage, ability, wisdom, and 
lo3'alty to the aims of the republican party. When 
departing for the Continental Congress, he carried with 
him, as a present from his constituents to the suffering 
patriots in Massachusetts, one hundred and sixty barrels 
of rice and fifty pounds sterling. 

The patriotic spirit of its inhabitants, and this inde- 
pendent action of St. John's Parish in advance of the 
other Georgia parishes, were afterwards acknowledged 
when all the parishes were in accord in the revolution- 
ary movement. As a tribute of praise, and in token 
of general admiration, the name of Liberty Count)/ was 
conferred upon the consolidated parishes of St. John, 
St. Andrew, and St. James. On the 13th of May, 1775, 
Dr. Hall, who had been so instrumental in persuading 
the Parish of St. John to this independent course, 
attended at the door of Congress, presented his creden- 
tials, and was unanimously "admitted as a delegate from 
the Parish of St. John in the Colony of Georgia, subject to 
such resrulations as Congrress should determine relative 
to his voting." Until Georgia was fully represented, he 
declined to vote upon questions which were to be de- 
cided by a vote of colonies. He participated, however, 
in the debates, recorded his opinion in cases where an 
expression of sentiment by colonies was not required, 
and declared his earnest conviction " that the example 
which had been shown by the parish which he repre- 
sented would be speedily followed, and that the repre- 
sentation of Georgia would soon be complete." 



LYMAN HALL. 97 

This came to pass within a very few months, and 
Georgia assumed her station and responsibilities in the 
sisterhood of Confederated Colonies. 

By successive appointments Dr. Hall was continued 
as a member from Georgia of the Continental Congress. 
Upon the fall of Savannah in December, 1778, and the 
capture of Sunbury, the entire coast region of Georgia 
passed into the possession of the king's forces, wiiich 
overran, plundered, and exacted the most onerous trib- 
ute. To the fjimilies of those who maintained their 
allegiance to the rebel cause no mercy was shown. 
Stripped of property, their homes rendered desolate, 
often without food and clothing, they were dependent 
upon the charity of impoverished neighbors. 

Dr. Hall's residence in Sunbury and his rice plantation 
nearMidway Meeting-House were despoiled. Under such 
melancholy circumstances he removed his family to the 
North, and there resided until the evacuation of Savan- 
nah in 1782. While his services as a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress were perhaps not as conspicuous as 
those rendered by some of his brethren, it may never- 
theless be fairly claimed that he was regular, earnest, 
and intelligent in the discharge of the important duties 
devolving upon him. He was present, and in association 
with Button Gwinnett and George Walton affixed his 
signature to the Declaration of Independence. 

Between Dr. Hall and the gifted, ambitious Gwinnett 
existed a warm friendship. The former resided at Sun- 
bury, and the latter upon St. Catherine Island, within 
distant sight of that pleasant village. They constantly 
exchanged social courtesies, and were of one mind 
upon the political questions which then agitated and 
divided the public thought. As president of the Coun- 
7 



98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

cil of Safety and Corr^Rinder-in-Chief of Georgia, Gwin- 
nett, in 1777, anxious to signalize his administration by 
a feat of arms, planned an expedition for the subjuga- 
tion of East Florida. Instead of intrusting the command 
of the forces employed to General Lachlan Mcintosh? 
who, as the ranking military officer of Georgia, was 
entitled in all fairness and in accordance with custom 
to expect and to claim it, Gwinnett set him aside and 
determined in person to lead the expedition. Mcin- 
tosh was not even permitted to accompany his brigade, 
and Colonel Elbert was assigned to the command of 
the Continental forces to the exclusion of his superior 
officer. General Mcintosh was naturally incensed at 
this conduct of Gwinnett, and denounced him in un- 
measured terms. 

Soon after, when, in the exercise of his gubernatorial 
powers and responding to the emergency caused by 
the lamented death of Archibald Bulloch, Gwinnett 
convened the Legislature to elect his successor, Mcin- 
tosh espoused the choice of John Adam Treutlen, who 
was the rival candidate for popular favor. Gwinnett 
had set his heart upon the office, and was grievously 
disappointed at the selection of his opponent. So vio- 
lent was the animosity harbored by Mcintosh, that, 
during the short but heated canvass, he publicly de- 
nounced Gwinnett in unmeasured terms. The quarrel 
between these gentlemen culminated on the 15th of 
May, 1777, when Gwinnett challenged Mcintosh to 
mortal combat. They met the next morning at sunrise 
within the present limits of the city of Savannah. 
What then transpired we relate in the language of Dr. 
Hall, who, in a postscript to a letter addressed to the 
Hon. Roger Sherman, under date of Savannah, June 1, 
1777, writes as follows : — 



LYMAN HALL. 99 

"I resume my Pen to confirm what you have no 
Doubt heard, that our worthy Friend Gwinnett has 
unfortunately fell. The Contention between him & 
the Gen' run high, principally respect^ the Expedition 
against E. Florida, which bro' on an Enquiry in the 
House of Assembly into the Conduct of M"" Gwinnett 
who, as President & Commander in Chief, had made 
the preparations & meant with the Militia, and aid of 
Continent' Troops, to have carried them into Execution 
as principal Leader & Commander: he proceeded as far 
as Sunbury, — from this about 40 mile, — with a small 
Fleet, from thence sent for the Militia and Continent' 
Troops to join him — few of the Militia turned out, 
except those of the Parish of St. John, & when the 
Gen' with the Continent' Troops arrived, M' Gwinnett 
summoned a Council of War, but the Gen' it seems 
would not hold a Council of War with him : he re- 
peated his Summonses, but to no purpose, on which 
Mr. Gwinnet's Council & the Field Officers of the Gen' 
advised both to return to this place and leave the com- 
mand of the Expedition to the next Officer. This mat- 
ter was laid before the Assembly, where both appeared 
and were heard, on which the Assembly Resolved 'that 
they approved the Conduct of M" Gwinnett & his Coun- 
cil so far as those matters had been laid before them.' 
Here it was (in Assembly) that the Gen' called him 
(as 'tis said) a Scoiindrell & lying Rascal — I confess I 
did not hear the words, not being so nigh the parties ; 
however it seems agreed that it was so. A Duel was 
the consequence, in wh*" they were placed at 10 or 12 
foot Distance. Discharged their Pistols nearly at the 
same Time. Each wounded in the Thigh. M"" Gwin- 
nett's thigh broke so that he fell — on wh*" ('tis said) 



100 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the Gen' Asked him Itffe chose to take another shot — 
was answered Yes, if they would help him up (or words 
nearly the same). The seconds interposed. M"" Gwin- 
nett was brought in, the Weather Extremely hot. A 
Mortification came on — he languish'd from that Morn- 
ing (Friday) till Monday Morning following, & expired. 
" Liberty ! Why do you suffer so many of your 
faithful sons, your warmest Votaries, to fall at your 
Shrine ! Alas ! my Friend, my Friend ! 

"Excuse me, D' Sir, the Man ym^Valuahle, so attached 
to the Liberty of this State & Continent that his whole 
Attention, Lifluence, & Interest centered in it, & seemed 
riveted to it. He left a Mournful Widow and Dauu-li'' 
& I may say the Friends of Liberty on a whole Conti- 
nent to deplore his Fall." . . . 

Gwinnett's death caused intense excitement. Dr. 
Hall — one of his executors and a warm personal friend 
— and other gentlemen of influence brought the matter 
to the notice of the Legislature, and charged the judi- 
cial officers with a neglect of duty in not arresting Mc- 
intosh and binding him over to answer to the charge 
of murder. Informed of these facts, so soon as his 
wound permitted, the general surrendered himself to 
Judge Glen, entered into bonds for his appearance, was 
indicted, tried, and acquitted. Even this determination 
of the matter did not allay the resentment of the 
Gwinnett party, who, incensed at the loss of their 
leader, used every exertion to impair the influence of 
Mcintosh and to fetter his eflbrts in the public service. 
At the suggestion of his friends, he repaired to the 
headquarters of General Washington for assignment to 



LYMAN HALL. 101 

duty in other quarters. For nearly two years he re- 
mained absent from his native State. 

Upon his return to Georgia, Dr. Hall selected Savan- 
nah as his home, and, with shattered fortunes, resumed 
the practice of his profession. While thus quietly 
employed he was, in January, 1783, elected Governor 
of Georgia. 

His acknowledgment of the honor thus conferred 
was expressed in the following brief inaugural address : 

" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly : 
" I esteem your unsolicited appointment of me to the 
office of Chief Magistrate of this State as the greatest 
honor, and I am affected with sentiments of the warm- 
est gratitude on this occasion. The early and decided 
part which I took in the cause of America originated 
from a full conviction of the justice and rectitude of 
the cause we engaged in, has uniformly continued as 
the principle of my heart, and I trust will to the last 
moments of my life. 

" If I can, by a strict attention to the various objects 
of government, and a steady and impartial exertion of 
the powers with which you have invested me, carry 
into execution the wise and salutary laws of the State, 
it will afford a pleasing prospect of our future welfare, 
brighten the dawn of independence, and establish the 
genuine principles of whigism on a firm and permanent 
foundation. 

"The confident reliance, gentlemen, I have in the 
wisdom of the council you have assigned me, and the 
firm support of your honorable House, afford a flattering 
expectation of succeeding in this difficult and important 
trust." 



102 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Georgia had but rec^g^ly emerged from the perils 
and privations of the Revolution ; and, while all were 
rejoicing in the inchoate blessings of independence, 
poverty, sorrow, and desolation were the heritage of 
many homes. The energies of his administration, which 
lasted for only one year, were chiefly directed to the 
establishment of land offices and the sale of confiscated 
property ; to the arrangement of the public debt, and 
the rewarding of officers and soldiers with bounty war- 
rants for services rendered ; with the accommodation 
of differences and the prevention of further disturbance 
with Florida, and the adjustment of the northern boun- 
dary of Georgia ; with the establishment of courts and 
schools ; and with the consummation of treaties of ces- 
sion from and amity with contiguous Indian nations. 
The most important of these were solemnized at Au- 
gusta with the Cherokee Indians in May, and with the 
Creek Indians in November, 1783. Upon the assem- 
bling of the Legislature at Augusta, on the 8th of July, 
1783, Governor Hall, in his message, thus commended 
to its members the subject of public education : — 

"In addition, therefore, to wholesome laws restraining 
vice, every encouragement ought to be given to intro- 
duce religion, and learned clergy to perform divine 
worship in honor of God, and to cultivate principles of 
religion and virtue among our citizens. For this pur- 
pose it will be your wisdom to lay an early foundation 
for endowing seminaries of learning ; nor can you, I 
conceive, lay a better than by a grant of a sufficient 
tract of land, that may, as in other governments, here- 
after, by lease or otherwise, raise a revenue sufficient 
to support such valuable institutions." 

Be it spoken and remembered to his perpetual praise 



LYMAN HALL. 103 

that Governor Hall, by this early and wise suggestion, 
sounded the key-note and paved the way for the foun- 
dation and the sustentation of the University of Geor- 
gia, which, for nearly a century, has proven the parent 
of higher education and civilization in Georgia. Upon 
the conclusion of his term of service he resumed, in 
Savannah, the practice of his profession, holding no 
public office save that of judge of the inferior court of 
Chatham County. This position he resigned upon his 
removal to Burke County in 1790. He had evidently 
prospered and accumulated a fortune somewhat un- 
usual in that day and community, for he then purchased 
a fine plantation on the Savannah River, not far from 
Shell Bluff, and furnished it with a considerable number 
of negro slaves, and all animals, implements, and provi- 
sions requisite for its proper cultivation. 

Here he died on the 19th of October, 1790, in the 
sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a widow Mary, 
and a son John (both of whom within a short time 
followed him to the tomb), and was buried in a substan- 
tial brick vault situated on a bold bluff overlooking the 
Savannah River. There he rested until his remains were 
removed and brought to Augusta, Georgia, and placed, 
in association with those of George Walton, beneath the 
monument erected by patriotic citizens in front of the 
court house in honor of the signers from Georgia of the 
Declaration of Independence. Gwinnett's bones could 
not be found; for, although it was believed that he was 
interred in the old cemetery on South Broad Street in 
Savannah, no stone having been erected over his grave, 
all memory of the place of his sepulture had vanished. 

The will of Dr. Hall, which was on file in the office 
of the Court of Ordinary of Burke County, at Waynes- 



104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

boro', was destroyed li^ftin accidental fire which con- 
sumed the court house and most of the pubhc records. 
Subsequent to tlie removal of his remains to Augusta, 
Mr. William D'Antignac, who then owned the Hall 
plantation, forwarded to the corporate authorities of 
Wallingford, Connecticut, the native town of the signer, 
the marble slab inserted in the front of the brick vault 
wherein they had so long rested. That slab is still 
carefully preserved. It bears the following inscrip- 
tion : — 

Beneath tliis stone rest the remains of 
Hon. Lyman Hall, 
formerly Governor of this State, who departed this life 
on the 19th of October, 1790, in tlie 67th year of his 
age. In the cause of America he was uniformly a 
patriot. In the incumbent duties of a husband and a 
father he acquitted himself with affection and tender- 
ness. 

But reader, above all know from this inscription that 
he left this probationary state as a true Christian and 
an honest man. 

To those so mourned in death, so loved in life, 
The childless parent and the widowed wife 
With tears inscribes this monumental stone, 
That holds his ashes and expects her own. 

In Sanderson's "Lives of the Signers" we are advised 
that Dr. Lyman Hall was six feet high and finely pro- 
portioned; that his manners were easy and polite; that 
his deportment wasaflable and dignified; that the force 
of his enthusiasm was tempered by discretion ; that he 
was firm in purpose and principles; that the ascend- 
ency which he gained was engendered by a mild, per- 
suasive manner coupled with a calm, unruffled temper; 



LYMAN HALL. 105 

and that, possessing a strong, discriminating mind, he 
had the power of imparting his energy to others, and 
was pecuharly fitted to flourish in the perplexing and 
perilous scenes of the Revolution. 

While there are several engraved portraits of this 
signer, we cannot speak authoritatively in regard to 
the genuineness of any of them. Careful inquiry has 
thus far failed to disclose the existence of any original 
portrait of Dr. Hall, unless that in the Philadelphia 
group, from which my friend Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, 
of New York city, had his drawing made, may be so 
regarded. So far as we can ascertain, there is in Geor- 
gia no original likeness of Dr. Hall. His only son died 
childless, and there are no lineal descendants of this 
signer. The State of Georgia perpetuates his name by 
one of her counties, and the memory of his manly walk 
and conversation, of his Christian virtues, useful acts, 
and patriotic impulses, is and will be gratefully cher- 
ished. 

Although he never bore arms, or won the distinction 
of an orator, he hazarded everything in the cause of 
humanity and liberty, on every occasion manifesting 
an exalted patriotism conscious of the blessings to be 
secured and jealous of the rights to be defended. 



JOHN IIOUSTOUN. 

This son of Sir Patrick Houstoun, Bart., — registrar 
of grants, receiver of qnitrcnts, and a member of coun- 
cil under the royal government in Georgia, — was a 
lawyer by profession and a gentleman of liberal edu- 
cation, culture, and refinement. He was born in the 
Parish of St. George on the 31st of August, 1744. Re- 
pudiating that allegiance to the Crown which liis 
father and many of the older and prominent citizens 
of the Colony so earnestly cherished and steadfastly 
maintained, at an early period he avowed sentiments 
of disloyalty to the acts of Parliament, and espoused 
the cause of the rebels. In July, 1774, we find him, 
with Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and John 
Walton, extending a public invitation to all the inhab- 
itants of Georgia to meet at the Liberty Pole, at Ton- 
dee's Tavern, in Savannah, to consider their constitu- 
tional rights and liberties as American subjects, and to 
adopt such measures for the redress of existing griev- 
ances as might appear proper and expedient. By 
those who responded to the call Mr. Houstoun was 
appointed a member of a committee to prepare resolu- 
tions, similar to those which had been passed by the 
Northern Colonies, expressive of their condemnation of 
the recent unjust and oppressive acts of Parliament, 
and of their determination to employ all lawful means 
for the assertion of their constitutional rights. The 
10th of the following August was fixed as the day, 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. 107 

and the town of Savannah was designated as the place, 
for the submission, by the committee, of the desired 
report. 

In contempt of the wish of Governor Wright, and in 
utter disregard of his proclamation denouncing the 
purposed assemblage as illegal and revolutionary, a 
general meeting of the inhabitants of the Province was 
held at Tondee's Tavern at the time suggested. The 
committee then reported a series of resolutions, very 
independent in their tone, and expressive of senti- 
ments favorable to the redress of pending political ills 
and to a union of the Province with her twelve sisters 
in a confederation for the common defense. Of the 
committee then raised to solicit and forward supplies 
for the relief of the impoverished Bostonians, Mr. 
Houstoun was a member. 

The conclusions reached and promulgated by this 
convocation of liberty-loving people provoked severe 
comment on the part of the king's servants, intensified 
the division of sentiment upon the political questions 
which then agitated the popular mind, and evoked 
violent protests from various quarters. In that meet- 
ing the propriety of sending six deputies to the Gen- 
eral Congi:ress of the American Colonies had been dis- 
cussed, but the suggestion did not meet with general 
favor. 

Eesolved upon controlling the political fortunes of 
the Province, and intent upon moulding public senti- 
ment to their will, the "Sons of Liberty " called a Pro- 
vincial Congress to meet on the 18th of January, 1775, 
at Savannah. The power of Governor Wright, and of 
the loyal party in Georgia, had been so successfully 
exerted in preventing a general response to the invi- 



108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

tation extended by tll^ patriots of Christ Church Par- 
ish, that, upon the assembling of that Provincial Con- 
gress, only five of the twelve parishes composing the 
Colony were represented by delegates, and some of 
them were so hampered by restrictions that their free- 
dom of expression and action was materially impaired. 
Chagrined at the inaction of the Province, the dele- 
gates present essayed to accomplish through the Com- 
mons House of Assembly, then in session, that which, of 
themselves, they were not strong enough to perform. 
In this, however, they were defeated by the action of 
Governor Wright, who, by adjourning the Assembly, 
thwarted the design of the Liberty party, and pre- 
vented a nomination of delegates to the Continental 
Congress, which, had it been made by the Assembly, 
would have carried with it at least the apparent sanc- 
tion of the entire Province. Nevertheless, the Pro- 
vincial Congress, feeble as it was, did nominate Mr. 
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, and Dr. Noble W. Jones 
to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress. 
Rightly judging, however, that an election by a minor- 
ity of the parishes did not justify a claim on their 
part to represent the entire Province, those gentlemen 
did not attempt to take their seats in the Continental 
Congress to which they had been thus accredited, but 
contented themselves with addressing a carefully pre- 
pared communication to the president of that body, in 
which they suggested reasons in explanation of the 
course adopted by them. 

On the 21st of June, by a call over their own signa- 
tures. Dr. Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John 
Houstoun, and George Walton, requested the inhabi- 
tants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. 109 

the Liberty Pole, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of the 
following day, to select a committee to bring about 
a union of Georgia with the other American Colonies. 
At the appointed place and designated hour many 
were present ; a Council of Safety was then chosen, 
with instructions to maintain an active correspon- 
dence with the Continental Congress, with Councils of 
Safety in other Provinces, and with committees in 
other Georgia parishes, with a view to the consumma- 
tion of the proposed union. Similar meetings were 
held in Georgia, all looking to an early affiliation with 
the confederated sisterhood of American Colonies. As 
a result of these combined efforts on the part of the 
patriots, there assembled in Savannah on the 4th of 
July, 1775, a Provincial Congress in which every 
Georgia parish was fully and ably represented. In the 
deliberations of this Congress, Mr. Houstoun — who 
was present as a delegate from the town and district of 
Savannah — actively participated. By the conclusions 
then reached, Georgia was at length placed in full 
communion and alliance with the twelve other Ameri- 
can Colonies. Of the delegates then selected to repre- 
sent this Province in the Continental Congress, Mr. 
Houstoun was the first chosen. Eesponding to this 
important trust, he journeyed to Philadelphia, and 
there, with Messrs. Bulloch and Zubly, participated in 
the deliberations of that body at a session convened in 
September. 

Mr. Houstoun was similarly complimented by the 
Provincial Congress which assembled in Savannah in 
January, 1776, and again by the Congress which con- 
vened in the fall of that year. Of the Executive 
Council, of which Benjamin Andrew was chosen presi- 



110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

dent, he was a memb^^when, on the 10th of Janu- 
ary, 1778, he was elected Governor of Georgia. But 
for the defection of Dr. Zubly, which necessitated Mr. 
Houstoun's presence in Georgia at that perilous epoch, 
his name would have been affixed to the Declaration 
of Independence. 

AVhile Charlestown was still rejoicing over the de- 
feat of the British fleet before the palmetto-covered 
walls of the fort on Sullivan's Island, in company with 
Jonathan Bryan and Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, Mr. 
Houstoun waited upon General Charles Lee, and, in 
the name of the Council of Safety of Georgia, besought 
his assistance in repelling the constantly occurring in- 
cursions from Florida. After recounting the numerous 
depredations committed on the southern and south- 
western frontiers of Georgia by lawless bands swarm- 
ing from Florida, and the desolation wrought along 
the coast by privateers commissioned by Governor 
Tonyn, the committee suggested a plan of operations 
by which these banditti might be slain or dispersed, 
and the town of St. Augustine captured. Moved by 
the representations of the committee. General Lee re- 
solved upon an expedition for the relief of Georgia, 
which, although subsequently inaugurated, was not 
prosecuted to a successful conclusion. 

When Mr. Houstoun was inducted into office as 
Governor of Georgia, the southern frontier of the State 
was intensely excited, and serious apprehensions were 
entertained that the entire commonwealth would be 
overrun and plundered by British, Tories, and Indi- 
ans issuino; from East Florida. At a meetino; of the 
Executive Council held on the IGth of April to con- 
sider the attitude of affairs, both civil and militaiy, 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. Ill 

,in extraordinary political act was committed. It was 
nothing less than investing the governor with almost 
dictatorial powers. In a preamble and resolutions, that 
council declared the situation in Georgia to be so truly 
alarming that only the most spirited and vigorous 
exertions could suffice to defeat the machinations of 
the enemy ; and that " in such times of danger it 
might happen that everything would depend upon in- 
stantaneous measures being embraced, which could not 
be done should the governor wait for calling a coun- 
cil." Having then recorded their favorable opinion of 
the constitutionality of the measure they proposed to 
adopt, the members proceeded to sanction the follow- 
ing unusual and dangerous policy : " The Council, 
therefore, impressed with a sense of the calamitous 
situation of this State, and apprehending it as an un- 
avoidable expedient, do request that his Honor the 
Governor will be pleased to take upon himself to act 
in such manner as to him shall seem most eligible ; 
and to exercise all the executive powers of govern- 
ment appertaining to the militia, or the defense of the 
State against the present danger which threatens it, 
or in annoyance of the enemy, independent of the 
Executive Council, and without calling, consulting, or 
advising with them, unless when and where he shall 
find it convenient and shall choose to do so. And 
they pledge themselves to support and uphold him in 
so doing, and to adopt as their own the measures 
which he shall embrace ; and that this shall continue 
during the present emergency, or until the honorable 
House of Assembly shall make an order or give their 
opinion to the contrary." 

To this remarkable exhibition of personal confidence 



112 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Governor Houstoun r#piied : " He was exceedingly 
unwilling to do any act without the approbation of the 
Council ; but that as he found, by experience during 
the present alarm, the impossibility of at all times get- 
ting them together when too much, perhaps, depended 
upon a minute, and further that as the Council had 
given it as their opinion that the proceeding was jus- 
tifiable under the Constitution, and as the meeting of 
the Assembly was so near at hand and alarms and 
dangers seemed to thicken on all sides, he agreed to 
act in the manner the Council requested, during the 
present emergency, or until the honorable House of 
Assembly should make an order or give their opinion 
to the contrary." 

While such a delegation of authority may not have 
been prohibited in terms by the Constitution of 1777, 
it is very questionable whether the framers of that 
instrument ever contemplated such a cession on the 
part of the members of the Executive Council who 
were constituted the special advisers and coadjutors of 
the governor in the exercise of the executive powers 
of government. 

The threatening aspect of affairs on the Southern 
frontier, and the general alarm pervading the State, 
caused this abnormal action on the part of the Execu- 
tive Council. 

East Florida, with its king's forces, Scovilites, out- 
laws, and subsidized Indians, was a thorn in the side of 
Georgia. St. Augustine, as the military hive whence 
these predatory bands swarmed to the annoyance of 
the dwellers between the Alatamaha and the St. Mary 
rivers, was an object of constant disquietude and 
hatred. Its destruction was a favorite scheme with the 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. 113 

Georgia authorities. What General Lee and Governor 
Gwinnett had failed to accomplish, Governor Houstoun 
was ambitious to achieve. Invested by the Executive 
Council with powers little less than dictatorial, he de- 
sired to inaugurate and conduct an expedition which 
would render his administration famous, and minis- 
ter to the security of the commonwealth over which 
he presided. Strengthened by a recent accession of 
Tories from the heart of South Carolina, the Floridians 
were preparing for another and a formidable incursion 
into Georgia. Of this fact Governor Houstoun was 
informed, and his desire was not only to push back 
this hostile column, but to follow up his advantage 
even to the investment and occupation of St. Augus- 
tine. 

Upon a conference with General Eobert Howe, who 
was then in command of the Southern Department, 
with his headquarters at Savannah, it was resolved to 
concentrate the military strength of Georgia for repel- 
ling the threatened attack, and for the subsequent in- 
vasion of Florida. Of the militia of the State, Governor 
Houstoun proposed to take and retain personal com- 
mand. When summoned to the field, they did not 
aggregate more than three hundred and fifty men, 
many of whom were poorly armed and badly disci- 
plined. The Continental forces within the limits of 
the State numbered only about five hundred and fifty. 
These were supplemented by two hundred and fifty 
Continental infantry, and thirty artillerists with two 
field -pieces, drawn from South Carolina, and com- 
manded by Colonel Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. 
The Carolina militia, under Colonels Bull and William- 
son, were ordered to rendezvous at Purrysburg, on the 



114 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Savannah River. ForliKowe, on the Alatamaha, was 
designated as the place for concentration. 

Upon the details of this expedition, including the 
gallant capture of the Hinchinbrooke and the Rebecca 
by Colonel Elbert ; the brave but fruitless attempt of 
Colonel Clarke to dislodge the enemy from his fortified 
position on Alligator Creek ; the tardy movements of 
the militia; the suffering engendered by a malarial 
region, intense heat, bad water, insufficient shelter, 
deficient transportation, and unwholesome food ; the 
distractions consequent upon disagreements between 
commanding officers, and the deplorable effiicts of a 
lack of military discipline, we may not dwell. Re- 
membering the powers conferred by his Executive 
Council, Governor Houstoun, with his militia, refused 
to receive orders from General Howe. Colonel Wil- 
liamson's troops would not yield obedience to a Conti- 
nental officer, and Commodore Bowen insisted that the 
naval forces were entirely distinct from, and independ- 
ent of, the land service. Thus was General Howe left 
to rely only upon the Continental troops. Had a mas- 
terly mind been present, quickly would these discord- 
ant elements have been consolidated ; rapidly, by stern 
orders and enforced discipline, would the army in all 
its parts have been unified and brought into efficient 
subjection. But there was no potent voice to evoke 
order out of confusion, — no iron will to dominate over 
the emergency. Discouraged by the perplexing de- 
lays, appalled by the sickness of the troops, embar- 
rassed by the want of cooperation among the com- 
manders, the lack of stores, and the inefficiency of the 
transportation department, and uncertain as to the 
future, General Howe convened a council of war at 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. 115 

Fort Tonyn, on the 11th of July, which advised an 
abandonment of the expedition so far as the Continen- 
tal forces were concerned. 

Left to themselves by the withdrawal of the Con- 
tinental troops, Governor Houstoun and Colonel Wil- 
liamson, with the Georgia and South Carolina militia, 
at first contemplated an advance as far as the river 
St. John. This purpose, however, conceived in a spirit 
of pride and vainglory, was speedily abandoned, and 
the men under their command were led back by land 
and dispersed to their respective homes. 

The most that can be said in favor of this cam- 
paign, with its lamentable lack of preparation, want of 
management, disagreement between commanders, sur- 
prising mistakes, inexcusable delays, vexatious disap- 
pointments, and fruitless expenditures of men and mu- 
nitions, is that it prevented for a season the advance 
of the enemy from Florida. Whether this sufficiently 
atoned for the waste of time, health, life, and treasure 
may fairly be questioned. 

In 1784 Mr. Houstoun was a second time elected 
Governor of Georgia. It was during this administra- 
tion that provision was made by the legislature for the 
establishment of a State institution of learning, which 
— at first as Franklin College, and subsequently as 
the University of Georgia — ■ has, for nearly a century, 
moulded the higher education of the youths of this 
commonwealth, and ministered to the civilization of 
Georgia. The original cession of forty thousand acres 
of the public lands for the foundation and support of 
this school was made to Governor Houstoun, James 
Habersham, William Few, Joseph Clay, Abraham Bald- 
win, William Houstoun, and Nathan Brownson, in trust 



116 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

for the purpose desigrflPfed ; and Governor Houstoim 
was first named in the list of trustees who, in 1785, 
were empowered to put this educational scheme in 
practical operation. 

Much attention was now bestowed upon issuing war- 
rants to such citizens as had rendered military service 
during the late war, and in the orderly administration 
of the Land Court, 

In 1786 Mr. Houstoun was commissioned as Chief 
Justice of Georgia, and in the following year he was 
a member of the commission appointed by the State 
to settle the boundary line between Georgia and South 
Carolina. In the convention, which concluded its 
labors at Beaufort, South Carolina, on the 28th of 
April, 1787, Georgia was represented by Governor 
Houstoun, Major John Habersham, and General Lach- 
lan Mcintosh ; while, on the part of South Carolina, 
General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, General An- 
drew Pickens, and the Hon. Pierce Butler appeared 
as commissioners. From the conclusions arrived at 
by that commission Governor Houstoun dissented, and 
his reasons for such dissent may be found in exienso 
in Marbury and Crawford's Digest, pp. 666 and 677. 
Like everything which emanated from his pen, this 
document is clear, forcible, and well expressed. 

In 1789 he was voted for under the operation of 
the Constitution just promulgated, but the choice for 
Governor was accorded to the Hon. Edward Telfair. 
The same year Mr. Houstoun was elected a justice for 
Chatham County, and in the following year he was 
complimented with the Mayoralty of Savannah. Upon 
the occasion of President Washington's visit to that 
city, in May, 1791, he was a member of the commit- 



JOHN HOUSTOUN. 117 

tee which welcomed and entertained the illustrious 
guest. 

While not busied with public affliirs Governor Hous- 
toun clave to his profession, of which he was an orna- 
ment, and in the practice of which he always found 
lucrative and honorable employment. No citizen en- 
joyed a more enviable reputation, or commended him- 
self more thoroughly to the confidence and the respect 
of the community. Many important trusts were com- 
mitted to his keeping. In their execution he was 
uniformly faithful and competent. He died at his 
suburban home at White Bluff, near Savannah, on the 
20th of July, 1796.^ Georgia perpetuates his name 
and his memory by one of her largest and most fertile 
counties. 

^ Two days afterwards his will was admitted to probate. It remains of 
file and of record in the Ordinary's Office of Chatham County, in Savan- 
nah, Georgia. 



WILLIAM HOUSTOUN. 

• The subject of this sketch — a son of Sir Patrick 
Houstoiin, and a brotherof Governor John Houstoun — 
is believed to have been born in Savannah, where his 
life was spent. He was a lawyer by profession, having 
been admitted in 1776 to the Inner Temple, London. 
Returning home, he espoused the cause of the Revolu- 
tionists, and was twice honored by selection as a Del- 
egate to the Continental Congress. In 1787 he was 
chosen as one of the deputies from Georgia to the 
convention for revising the Federal Constitution. Al- 
though he attended and participated in the delibera- 
tions of that august body, his name does not appear 
amono; the members who sio-ned the Constitution then 
formulated. Two years before, he had acted as one of 
the agents named on the part of the State of Georgia 
to settle tlie boundary between that commonwealth 
and Carolina. With the final adjudication of the ques- 
tion, however, he had no connection. His name appears 
among the original trustees for the establishment of 
the University of Georgia; and to Lyman Hall, Gover- 
nor John Houstoun, William Few, Joseph Clay, Abra- 
ham Baldwin, William Houstoun, and Nathan Brownson 
was the primal cession of forty thousand acres of land 
made by the State of Georgia for the establishment and 
endowment of that seminary of learning. 

But little can be gleaned in regard to this member 
from Georgia of the Continental Congress, but the tra- 



WILLIAM HOUSTOUN. 119 

dition lives that he was a thorough gentleman, an ac- 
complished lawyer, and a citizen of high repute. 

We are informed that his portrait, as well as that of 
Governor Houstoun, with the family plate and many 
papers of historical value, were unfortunately and acci- 
dentally consumed by fire in Southwestern Georgia, 
whither, during the late war between the States, they 
had been conveyed in the hope of promoting their 
safety. 



RICHARD HOWLEY. 

When first introduced to our acquaintance, this mem- 
ber of the Continental Congress was a resident of St. 
John's Parish, where he practiced \a\y, supplementing 
his professional labors by attention to a small rice plan- 
tation. Upon the fall of Sunbury, in January, 1779, 
and the occupation of Southern Georgia by the King's 
forces, he removed to St. Paul's Parish, where, in affili- 
ation with George Wells and others opposed to the 
existing Executive Council, he called a convention, 
which, at Augusta, resolved itself into a legislative 
body, claimed to be the General Assembly of Georgia, 
chose William Glascock Speaker, and proceeded to elect 
George Walton Governor of the young and distracted 
commonwealth. 

On the 4th of January, 1780, Mr. Howley was 
elected Governor of Georgia. Composed largely of the 
friends of Walton and himself, the Assembly which 
conferred this honor severely criticised the former 
Council, and accused its members of "exercising powers 
and authorities unknown to and subversive of the 
Constitution and laws of this State." It even went so 
far as to declare that " said Council and the powers 
they exercised were illegal and unconstitutional." 
Nevertheless, within a month this Assembly, which 
had thus pronounced null and void the action of the 
former Council, and denounced it as lawless in concep- 
tion and operation, moved by the exigency of the 



RICHARD HOWLEY. 121 

period, and anticipating it might happen during the 
progress of the war " that the Ministers of Government 
of this State might not be able to do or transact the 
business of the State within the limits of the same," 
unanimously resolved " that his Honor the Governor, 
or, in his absence, the President and Executive Council, 
might do and transact all and every business of govern- 
ment in as full, ample, and authoritative manner in any 
otlier State within the Confederation, touchins; and re- 
specting of this State, as though it had been done and 
transacted within the limits of this State." Fortunately, 
in the judgment of Governor Howley, the occasion did 
not arise for the exercise of this extraordinary and man- 
ifestly unauthorized power. 

Informed of the arrival of reinforcements to the 
British troops in Savannah, — the ultimate destination 
of which was not then well ascertained, — the Governor 
issued a stirring proclamation, "commanding and requir- 
ing the people to stand firm to their duty, and exert 
themselves in support and defense of the great and 
glorious independency of the United States ; and also 
to remember with gratitude to Heaven that the Al- 
mighty Ruler of human aflfliirs hath been pleased to 
raise up the spirit and might of the two greatest 
powers in the world [France and Spain] to join with 
them and oppose and destroy the persecutor of their 
liberties and immunities." 

General Lincoln was censured for withdrawing the 
Continental troops from Georgia, and was pronounced 
"answerable for all the consequences which might 
follow that unadvised measure." Governor Howley 
was instructed to concentrate half the militia of the 
State at Augusta, and Colonel John Twiggs, with his 



122 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

command and as man^'^^lunteers as he could secure, 
was ordered to take post at that point. 

Aware of the defenseless condition of this town, 
" which might be surprised by twenty men," and deem- 
ing it "unsafe and impolitic for the Governor and Coun- 
cil to remain thus exposed," the Assembly designated 
Heard's Fort, in Wilkes County, as a suitable "place of 
meeting for transacting the business of the government 
of this State as soon after leaving Augusta as may be." 

Responding to this suggestion, the Governor and 
Executive Council did, on the 5th of February, adjourn 
to Heard's Fort, w^hich thereupon became the tempo- 
rary capital of the State. Brief was the gubernatorial 
term of Governor Howley. He soon left Georgia to 
take his seat in the Continental Congress ; and the 
Hon. George Wells — the President of Council — and 
three members of the Board were announced as com- 
petent for the transaction of all public business. Re- 
publican Georgia at this time could practically claim 
the full allegiance of only two counties, — Richmond 
and Wilkes, — and its condition was indeed deplorable. 
Driven from Savannah and the seaboard, compelled to 
evacuate Augusta, hemmed in by hostile Indians on 
the frontier, confronted by British Regulars and Tories, 
harassed with alarms, surprised by ambuscades, and 
pinched with want, the patriots were engaged in a 
long and bitter struggle for simple existence, with 
scarcely a ray of hope to light up the future. 

So depreciated was the paper money of the State 
that Governor Howley, in making his way to Congress, 
in the language of Captain McCall, dealt it out by the 
quire for a night's lodging for himself and party; "and 
if the fare was anything extraordinary, the landlord 
was compensated with two quires." 



RICHARD HOWLEY. 123 

At this darkest epoch, when English arms had gained 
the ascendency not only in Georgia but also in South 
Carolina, when the principal towns of those States were 
in the possession of the enemy and the territory on both 
sides of the Savannah River was largely subservient to 
British rule, it was noised abroad that a new commis- 
sion would soon issue from the Court of St. James for 
the purpose of again sounding the temper of America 
upon the subject of a pacification. It was boldly hinted 
that in any negotiations Georgia, and perhaps South 
Carolina, would not be recognized as parts of the Amer- 
ican Union, but that they would be excluded, on the 
ground that they " had been again colonized to Eng- 
land by new conquest." In Europe the iiti possidetis 
was much talked of as " a probable basis for the antici- 
pated peace." Against this doctrine and its practical 
application George Walton, William Few, and Kichard 
Howley — then representing Georgia in the Continen- 
tal Congress — prepared and published a manly and 
earnest protest,^ which was not without its influence. 

Upon the conclusion of peace Governor Howley 
returned to his home in Liberty County, where he 
resumed the practice of his profession. Prior to his 
death, which occurred in Savannah, Georgia, in Decem- 
ber, 1784, he had become a resident of that town. 
His will — now of file in the Ordinary's Office of 
Chatham Countj^ — bears date on the 6th of that 
month, and was probated on the 4th of January, 1785. 

1 Observations upon the Effects of Certain Late Political Suggestions hy the 
Delegates of Georgia, pp. 10. Pliiladelphia, mdcclxxxi. 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 

This son of Colonel Noble Jones, a trusted friend 
and early companion of Oglethorpe, — who, as military 
officer, surveyor, registrar, member of the Royal Coun- 
cil, and treasurer of the Province of Georgia, during a 
long life proved himself a valuable and an influential 
citizen, and never once wavered in his allegiance to the 
Crown, — was born near London, England, in 1723. 

Such was the respect and so great was the affection 
entertained for him by his distinguished and devoted 
son that, when first elected a member from Georgia of 
the Continental Congress, Noble W. Jones, in deference 
to the entreaties of his aged father, then sorely per- 
plexed and trembling upon the verge of the grave, put 
aside for the time being this important trust, that he 
might, with filial love, minister to the infirmities and 
soothe the last hours of his dying parent. 

Coming to Georgia at a tender age, he secured a 
cadet's appointment in Oglethorpe's regiment. Having 
in time studied medicine and received his degree, he 
was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and, with the rank 
and pay of surgeon, was assigned to a company of 
Rangers in the pay of the Crown. After a few years 
passed in military service, he resigned from the army, 
and entered upon the practice of his profession in 
Savannah. He rose rapidly in the public esteem, as 
a citizen and as a physician winning golden opinions 
from the conununity. No idle spectator of passing 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 125 

events, or indifferent to political preferment, he was in 
1768 elected Speaker of the Lower House of Assembly 
of the Province of Georgia. By that body he was 
placed upon a committee to correspond with Dr. Ben- 
jamin Franklin — who had been appointed an agent 
" to represent, solicit, and transact the affairs of the 
Colony of Georgia in Great Britain " — and give such 
instructions as might appear necessary for the public 
welfare. Reelected to this position in 1770, so pro- 
nounced and influential had become his views and con- 
duct in opposition to the objectionable and oppressive 
acts of Parliament and in support of American ideas 
that Governor Wright, exercising the power vested in 
him, refused to sanction this choice, and ordered the 
House to select another Speaker. 

Incensed at this affront offered to one who has been 
aptly termed a morning star of liberty in Georgia, and 
resenting what they deemed an unwarrantable interfer- 
ence with the power resting solely with them to nomi- 
nate and judge of the qualification of their own presid- 
ing officer, the members of the House passed resolutions 
complimentary to Dr. Jones, and declared " that the 
sense and approbation this House entertain of his con- 
duct can never be lessened by any slight cast upon him 
in opposition to the unanimous voice of the Commons 
House of Assembly in particular and the Province in 
general." Criticising the action of the Executive, they 
resolved " that this rejection by the Governor of a 
Speaker unanimously elected was a high breach of 
the privileges of the House, and tended to subvert the 
most valuable rights and liberties of the people and 
their representatives." This bold assertion the Council 
was pleased to stigmatize as " a most indecent and 



126 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

insolent denial of liil^Iajesty's authority," and the 
Governor, wielding the only punitive weapon at com- 
mand, dissolved the Assembly on the 22d of February, 
1770. 

Adhering to the preference shown on a former occa- 
sion, and resolved to rebuke the late interference on 
the part of the Executive, at the first session of the 
eighth General Assembly of the Province, convened at 
Savannah on the 21st of April, 1772, the Commons 
House perfected its organization by electing Dr. Jones 
as its Speaker. Officially informed of this action, the 
Hon. James Habersham, who during the absence of Sir 
James Wright was occupying the gubernatorial chair, 
responded : " I have his Majesty's commands to put a 
negative upon the Speaker now elected by the Com- 
mons House, which I accordingly do ; and desire that 
you will inform the House that I direct them to pro- 
ceed to a new choice of Speaker." 

Despite this inhibition, and in direct opposition to 
the injunction of the Executive, thrice did the House 
adhere to its selection ; and it was only by dissolving 
the Assembly that the Governor was able to carry his 
point. 

In a long letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, dated 
the 30th of April, 1772, Governor Habersham dwells 
upon the injurious effects of this dissolution of the As- 
sembly, and yet demonstrates its necessity in obedience 
to existing instructions from the Crown. He also com- 
ments freely upon the conduct of Dr. Jones and his 
friends in " opposing the public business " under the 
"specious pretence of Liberty and Privilege." "My 
Lord," he continues, " it is very painful to me to say or 
even to insinuate a disrespectful word of any one ; and 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 127 

every person who knows me will acknowledge that it 
is contrary to my disposition to dip my pen in gall, but 
I cannot help considering Mr. Jones's conduct for some 
time past in opposing Public Business as very ungrate- 
ful and unworthy a good man, as his family have reaped 
more advantages from Government than any I know in 
this Province. He was several years First Lieutenant 
and Surgeon of a company of Rangers paid by the 
Crown, and in these capacities met with great indul- 
gence. His father is the King's Treasurer, and, if I am 
not mistaken, reaps very considerable emoluments from 
it." 

The truth is, while Governor Habersham was loyally 
seeking to carry out the instructions of the King and 
to support the authority of Parliament, Dr. Jones was 
in active sympathy with those who esteemed taxation 
without representation as wholly unauthorized, and who 
were very jealous in the maintenance of what they 
regarded as the reserved rights of the colonists and the 
privileges of provincial legislatures. Both were true 
men, but they viewed the situation from different 
standpoints. An honored servant of the Crown, Mr. 
Habersham was confronted with j)eculiar duties and 
stringent oaths. Dr. Jones, on the contrary, as a rep- 
resentative elected by the people, was free to give 
expression to his own and the sentiments of his con- 
stituents at an epoch when American liberty was being 
freely discussed and proclaimed. Of each it may be 
fairly said he was pure in purpose, wise in counsel, and 
fearless in action ; enjoying in a conspicuous degree 
the esteem and the affection of the community. But 
their political paths henceforward diverged. The one 
clave to the Crown and shared its fortunes, while the 



128 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

other cast his lot with^^e Revolutionists, and became 
a fiivorite leader of the patriot band. 

With Archibald Bulloch, John Houstoun, and John 
Walton, he issued the public call on the 20th of July, 

1774, which convened the citizens of Georgia at the 
Watch House in Savannah. The resolutions then 
adopted and the measures there inaugurated, gather- 
ing potency and allegiance as they were discussed and 
comprehended, proved effective in unifying public sen- 
timent in support of the plans suggested by the Lib- 
erty party, and paved the way for sundering the ties 
which bound the Province to the British Empire. Of 
the committees then raised to conduct the public af- 
fairs of the Colony, and to minister to the relief of 
the " suffering poor " of Boston, he was an active mem- 
ber. 

Noble Wymberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and John 
Houstoun, elected delegates to the Continental Con- 
gress by a convention of patriots assembled in Savan- 
nah on the 8th of December, 1774, and again by the 
Provincial Congress of January, 1775, — concluding 
very properly that, inasmuch as they had been nomi- 
nated by a political convocation which in reality em- 
braced only four of the twelve parishes then constitut- 
ing the Province of Georgia, they could not justly be 
regarded as representatives of the entire Colony, and 
yet persuaded that the will of those who commissioned 
them should be formally made known and the mind of 
Georgia be fairly interpreted, — on the 6th of April, 

1775, addressed the following communication to the 
President of the Continental Congress : — 

"Sir, — The unworthy part which the Province of 
Georgia has acted in the great and general contest 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 129 

leaves room to expect little less than the censure or 
even indignation of every virtuous man in America. 
Although, on the one hand, we feel the justice of such 
a consequence with respect to the Province in general, 
yet, on the other, we claim an exemption from it in 
favour of some individuals who wished a better conduct. 
Permit us, therefore, in behalf of ourselves and many 
others, our fellow citizens, warmly attached to the 
cause, to lay before the respectable body over which 
you preside a few facts which, we trust, will not only 
acquit us of supineness, but also render our conduct to 
be approved by all candid and dispassionate men. 

" At the time the late Cono;ress did this Province 
the honour to transmit to it an extract from their pro- 
ceedings, enclosed in a friendly letter from the Honour- 
able Mr. Middleton, the sense and disposition of the 
people in general seemed to fluctuate between liberty 
and convenience. In order to bring on a determina- 
tion respecting the measures recommended, a few well- 
affected persons in Savannah, by public advertisement 
in the Gazette, requested a meeting of all the parishes 
and districts, by delegates or representatives, in Pro- 
vincial Congress. On the day appointed for this meet- 
ing, with concern they found that only five out of 
twelve parishes to which they had particularly wrote 
had nominated and sent down delegates ; and even 
some of these five had laid their representatives under 
injunctions as to the form of an association. Under 
these circumstances those who met saw themselves 
a good deal embarrassed. However, one expedient 
seemed still to present itself The House of Assembly 
was then sitting, and it was hoped there would be no 
doubt of a majority in favour of American freedom. 
9 



130 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

The plan, therefore, i0k to go through with wliat 
business they couhl in Provincial Congress, and then, 
with a short address, }Dresent the same to the House of 
Assembly, who, it was hoped, would by votes in a lew 
minutes and before prerogative should interfere, make 
it the act of the whole Province. Accordingly, the 
Congress framed and agreed to such an association, 
and did such other business as appeared practicable 
with the people, and had the whole just ready to be 
presented, when the Governor, either treacherously 
informed or shrewdly suspecting the step, put an end 
to the session. What then could the Congress do? On 
the one hand, truth forbid them to call their proceedings 
the voice of the Province, there being but five^ out of 
twelve parishes concerned ; and on the other, they 
wanted strength sufficient to enforce them on the prin- 
ciple of necessity, to which iill ought for a time to sub- 
mit. They found the inhabitants of Savannah not 
likely soon to give matters a favourable turn. The 
importers were mostly against any interruption, and 
the consumers very much divided. There were some 
of the latter virtuously for the measures ; others stren- 
uously against them ; but more who called themselves 
neutrals than either. Thus situated, there appeared 
nothing before us but the alternative of either immedi- 
ately commencing a civil war among ourselves, or else 
of patiently waiting for the measures to be recom- 
mended by the General Congress. 

'' Among a powerful people, provided with men, 
money, and conveniences, and by whose conduct 
others were to be regulated, the former would cer- 
tainly be the resolution that would suggest itself to 

^ And one of these, St. Paul, practically withdrew. 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 131 

every man removed from the condition of a coward ; 
but in a small community like that of Savannah 
(whose members are mostly in their first advance 
towards wealth and independence, destitute of even 
the necessaries of life within themselves, and from 
whose junction or silence so little would be added or 
lost to the general cause), the latter presented itself 
as the 'most eligible plan, and was adopted by the 
people. Party disputes and animosities have occasion- 
ally prevailed, and show that the spirit of freedom is 
not extinguished, but only restrained for a time till an 
opportunity shall offer for calling it forth. 

" The Congress convened at Savannah did us the 
honour of choosing us delegates to meet your respec- 
table body at Philadelphia on the tenth of next month. 
We were sensible of the honour and weight of the 
appointment, and would gladly have rendered our 
country any service our poor abilities would have 
admitted of; but, alas ! with what face could we have 
appeared for a Province whose inhabitants had refused 
to sacrifice the most trifling advantages to the public 
cause, and in whose behalf we did not think we could 
safely pledge ourselves for the execution of any one 
measure whatsoever ? 

" We do not mean to insinuate that those who 
appointed us would prove apostates or desert their 
opinions, but that the tide of opposition was great ; 
that all the strength and virtue of these our friends 
might be sufficient for the purpose. We very early 
saw the difficulties that would here occur, and there- 
fore repeatedly and constantly requested the people to 
proceed to the choice of other delegates in our stead ; 
but this they refused to do. We beg, sir, you will 



132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

view our reasons for n^Phttending in a liberal point of 
light. Be pleased to make the most favourable repre- 
sentation of them to the Honourable the Members of 
the Congress. We believe we may take upon our- 
selves to say, notwithstanding all that has passed, 
there are still men in Georgia who, when an occasion 
shall require, will be ready to evince a steady, reli- 
gious, and manly attachment to the liberties of Amer- 
ica. For the consolation of these, they find themselves 
in the neighborhood of a Province whose virtue and 
magnanimity must and will do lasting honour to the 
cause, and in whose fate they seem disposed freely to 
involve their own. 

" We have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient 
and very humble servants, 

" Noble Wymberley Jones. 

"Archibald Bulloch. 

"John Houstoun." 

The news of the affairs at Lexington and Concord 
reached Savannah on the 10th of May, and caused the 
wildest excitement. The thunders of the 19th of April 
aroused the Georgia parishes from their lethargy, and 
multiplied patriots within their borders. 

The magazine at the eastern extremity of Savannah 
— built of brick and sunk some twelve feet under 
ground — contained a considerable amount of ammuni- 
tion. So substantial was this structure, that Governor 
Wright deemed it unnecessary to post a guard for its 
protection. The excited Revolutionists all over the 
land cried aloud for powder. Impressed with the 
importance of securing the contents of this magazine, 
quietly assembling at the residence of Dr. Jones, and 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 133 

there hastily arranging a plan of operations, Dr. Noble 
W. Jones, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, William 
Gibbons, Joseph Clay, John Milledge, and some other 
gentlemen, — most of them members of the Council of 
Safety, and all zealous in the cause of American lib- 
erty, — at a late hour on the night of the 11th of May, 
1775, broke open the magazine and removed there- 
from some six hundred pounds of powder, — a portion 
of which was sent to Beaufort, South Carolina, for safe- 
keeping, and the rest was concealed in the garrets and 
cellars of the houses of the captors. Although Gov- 
ernor Wright issued a proclamation offering a reward 
of .£150 sterling for the apprehension of the offenders, 
it failed to elicit any information, although the actors 
in the affair are said to have been well known in the 
community. The popular heart was too deeply stirred, 
and the "Sons of Liberty" were too potent to tolerate 
any hindrance or annoyance at the hands of Royalist 
informers. The tradition lives, and is generally cred- 
ited, that some of the powder thus obtained was for- 
warded to Cambridge, and was actually expended by 
the patriots in the memorable battle of Bunker Hill. 

On the 22d of June, 1775, in response to a call 
signed by Dr. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John Hous- 
toun, and George Walton, many of the inhabitants of 
the town and district of Savannah assembled at the 
Liberty Pole in Savannah, and elected a Council of 
Safety, with instructions to maintain an active corre- 
spondence with the Continental Congress, and with 
Councils of Safety both in Georgia and in other Prov- 
inces, with a view to brinorinu: about a union of Geor- 
gia with her sister Colonies in the cause of freedom. 

Of the Provincial Cong-ress which assembled in Sa- 



134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

vuiinah on the 4(li (f^Jiily, 1775, Dr. Jones was a 
member, aceredited Iroin the " Town and District of 
Savannah." 

In this Congress every parish was represented. Dr. 
Jones was of the committee then selected to frame a 
suitable address to the inhabitants of Georgia, advising 
them of the true nature of the disputes existing be- 
tween Great Britain and her American Colonies, and 
informintj: them of the deliberations and conclusions of 
the present Congress. lie was also chosen, with John 
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, Reverend Dr. Zubly, and 
Dr. Lyman Hall, to represent Georgia in the Conti- 
nental Congress. Georgia was now in acknowledged 
sympathy with her sisters, and took her place, by 
regular representation, in the National Assembly. Of 
the Council of Safety which ordered the arrest of Gov- 
ernor Wright, Dr. Jones was a member. 

Late in 1776 the General Assembly of South Caro- 
lina adopted a resolution to the effect that a union 
between that State and Georgia would promote the 
general strength, wealth, and dignity, and insure mu- 
tual liberty, independence, and safety. Commission- 
ers — of whom the Honorable William Henry Drayton 
appears to lifive been the chairman, as he certainly 
was the spokesman — were sent to Savannah to treat 
of the matter, and to secure Georgia's acquiescence in 
a project which, if carried into effect, would practically 
have put an end to her political existence. The mem- 
bers of the Council of Safety listened with patience 
and courtesy to the arguments and persuasions of the 
Carolina Commissioners, but rejected the proffered 
union. President Gwinnett, Dr. Jones, and all the 
leading republican spirits were radically opposed to 



NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 135 

the scheme on grounds both material and constitu- 
tional ; and so the effort of South Carolina to swallow 
up Georgia signally miscarried. 

Upon the capture of Savannah in December, 1778, 
Dr. Jones removed to Cliarles-Town, South Carolina. 
There, upon the iidl of that city in 1780, he was taken 
prisoner by the British and sent in captivity to St. Au- 
gustine, Florida. Exclianged in July, 1781, he went 
to Philadelphia, and there entered upon the practice 
of his profession. Wliile a resident of that city, he 
was, by the General Assembly of Georgia, reelected to 
the Continental Congress. 

Shortly after its evacuation by the King's forces in 
the summer of 1782, Dr. Jones returned to Savannah, 
repaired the desolations which war had wrought in his 
comfortable home, and resumed his professional labors. 
He was a member of the committee which received 
and saluted President Washington with an address of 
welcome upon the occasion of his visit to Savannah 
in 1791. Over the Constitutional Convention which, 
at Louisville, Jefferson County, in May, 1795, amended 
the Constitution of Georgia, Dr. Noble Wymberley 
Jones presided. In 1804 he was President of the 
Georgia Medical Society. Preserving his intellectual 
and physical powers in a wonderful degree, he died in 
Savannah on the 9th of January, 1805,^ honored by 
the community as an accomplished gentleman, an 
influential citizen, a skillful physician, and a sterling 
patriot. 

To the refined taste and liberality of his grandson, 
the late George Wymberley Jones De Renne, M. D., 

1 His will was probated on the 1 9th of Fel)ruary, 1807, and remains of 
file in the office of the Ordinary of Chatham County, in Savannah. 



136 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of Savannah, a gentlen|pi of broad education (enriched 
by study, travel, and observation), of large wealth, ex- 
quisite culture, and thoroughly imbued with a love for 
Georgia and all her traditions, are we indebted, among 
other literary legacies, for the series of Worrnsloe 
Quartos, esteemed alike for their intrinsic value, ad- 
mirable manufticture, and extreme rarity. 

Since his death his widow — manifesting like gener- 
ous interest in everything appertaining to the early 
history of Georgia, and as a tribute to the memory of 
her husband — has borne the charge of two other 
beautiful and expensive Wormsloe Quartos, edited by 
the w^riter, one entitled Acts passed by the General As- 
semhly of the Colony of Georgia, 1755 /ol774. Now fird 
pnnted. Wormsloe. MDCCCLXXXI ; and the other, 
A Journal of the Transactions of the Trustees for estab- 
lishing the Colony of Georgia in America, by the R Hon^^' 
John, Earl of Egmnnt, Viscount Perceval of Canturk, 
Baron Perceval of Burton, one of his Majesty's Most 
Privy Council in the Kingdom of Ireland, and first Presi- 
dent of the Board of Trustees of the Colony of Georgia. 
Now first printed. Wormsloe. MDCCCLXXXVI. In 
each case the edition was limited to forty-nine copies. 



EDWARD LANGWORTHY. 

This member of the Continental Congress was born 
in Savannah, Georgia, of obscure parentage. Left an 
orphan at a tender age, he was indebted for his main- 
tenance and education to that charitable institution 
founded and long supported by the Reverend George 
Whitefield, and known as the Bethesda Orphan House. 
At a subsequent period he became a teacher in that 
school. His earliest public appearance, so far as we 
can ascertain, was as one of the signers of a card 
which was published in the Georgia Gazette, on the 
7th of September, 1774, criticising certain patriotic 
resolutions adopted at a convocation of citizens held 
on the 10th of the preceding month, and protesting 
against their being accepted as reflecting the senti- 
ments of a majority of the inhabitants of Georgia. In 
that card he appears as in full sympathy with the 
Royalists in the Province. That his political views 
underwent a sudden and violent change may be fairly 
inferred from the fact that in the following year he 
became the efficient Secretary of the Republican Coun- 
cil of Safety. In 1777 he was elected a delegate from 
Georgia to the Continental Congress. A similar honor 
was conferred upon him during the following year, 
when, with his confreres George Walton and Edward 
Telfair, he signed the Articles of Confederation. He 
at one time held the position of Justice of the Peace 
for the County of Chatham. 



138 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Not very long after^^e conclusion of peace between 
Great Britain and the United Colonies, he removed 
from Savannah and located in Maryland. He there 
formed the design of writing a history of Georgia. Of 
fair attainments, and possessing a personal acquaint- 
ance with many of the prominent persons and leading 
events appertaining to Georgia during the latter half 
of the eigliteenth century, he was at least measurably 
qualified for the task. He seems to have addressed 
himself with energy to the collection of materials 
requisite for the undertaking. It would appear, from 
a prospectus printed in the Georgia Gazette, that the 
history was actually written, and that the manuscript 
was ready to be rendered into type. One of his letters 
lies before us, dated at Elkton, Maryland, March 1, 
1791, and addressed to Seaborn Jones, Esq., Augusta, 
Georgia, in which Mr. Langworthy says : " Inclosed 
you will receive a Subscription Paper for ' A Political 
History of the State of Georgia,' &c., for which I nuist 
request you to take in subscriptions, and I flatter 
myself you will succeed therein, as the design is a 
well-meant attempt to rescue the patriotic exertions of 
our Countrymen from Oblivion and the Misrepresenta- 
tion of some Writers of American History. 

" What monies you will receive on this occasion you 
will please to pay to Mr. James Johnston, Printer at 
Savannah, whose receipt will be your discharge." 

Suitable encouragement, however, not having been 
obtained, the contemplated publication was never made. 
Mr. Langworthy died at Elkton, Maryland, near the 
close of the last century, and all efforts to recover 
both his manuscript and the supporting documents 
which he had amassed have thus far proved abortive. 



LACHLAN MCINTOSH. 

To the Continental Army Georgia furnished only 
two officers who attained the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral. They were Lachlan Mcintosh and Samuel El- 
bert. Both were excellent soldiers, sterling patriots, 
and influential citizens. Their services, alike in peace 
and in war, were held in high repute. It is of the 
former of them that we Avould speak. 

Born near Raits, in Badenoch, Scotland, on the 17th 
of March, 1725, when only eleven years of age he 
accompanied his father, John More Mcintosh, to Geor- 
gia. Commissioned by the Trustees for the establish- 
ment of the Colony of Georgia in America, Lieutenant 
Hugh MacKay, in 1735, accepted and enrolled at Inver- 
ness one hundred and thirty Highlanders, with fifty 
women and children. The men were of good charac- 
ter, and were selected for their military qualities. 
Many of them came from the Glen of Stralbdean, 
and were commanded by officers most respectably con- 
nected in the Highlands. John More Mcintosh was 
the head of the Borlam branch of the clan Mcintosh. 
Conveyed on board the Prince of Wales, Captain 
George Dunbar, these sturdy immigrants set sail for 
Georgia on the 18th of October, 1735, and entered 
the mouth of the Savannah River early in the follow- 
ing January. Shortly afterwards, accompanied by a 
minister of their own selection, — the Reverend John 
McLeod, a native of the Isle of Skye, — these High- 



140 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

landers were transpor^^ in periaguas to the south- 
ward. Ascending the Alataniaha River to a point on 
the left bank of that stream about sixteen miles above 
St. Simon's Ishind, they there landed, and formed a 
permanent settlement which they named " New In- 
verness." Here they erected a fort, mounted four 
pieces of cannon, built a guard-house, a store, and a 
chapel, and constructed dwelHngs for their accommo- 
dation. These Scots were a brave, hardy race, — just 
the men to occupy this advanced post and defend the 
southern confines of tlie Colony. " In their plaids, and 
with their broadswords, targets, and firearms, they 
presented a most manly appearance." Most valuable 
was the military service rendered by these Highland- 
ers during the wars between the Georgia colonists and 
the Spaniards in Florida. John More Mcintosh was ap- 
pointed by Oglethorpe conuuandant of New Inverness. 
When, in 1740, General Oglethorpe invaded Florida 
and attempted the reduction of St. Augustine, he was 
accompanied by Captain Mcintosh and his Highland- 
ers. Unfortunately, although they " fought like lions," 
and " made such havoc with their broadswords as the 
Spaniards cannot easily forget," they were surprised 
and dispersed with great loss at Fort Moosa. Captain 
Mcintosh was captured and sent as a prisoner to Spain, 
where he was detained for several years. When re- 
leased, he returned to Georgia enfeebled in constitu- 
tion. He did not long survive the privations which 
he had endured. 

Lachlan Mcintosh, while still a lad, was enrolled by 
General Oglethorpe as a cadet in his regiment. Amid 
the distractions of the period, and remembering the 
limited means then afforded for acquiring an education 



LACHLAN Mcintosh. 141 

in Georgia, as may be well imagined, the subject of 
this sketch enjoyed but small opportunity for consec- 
utive study and intellectual improvement. And yet 
we are told that his mother was most earnest in im- 
parting the rudiments of an English education ; and 
that, under the patronage of General Oglethorpe, 
young Mcintosh was instructed in mathematics, and 
in other branches of knowledge deemed specially ne- 
cessary for a military training. 

At the age of seventeen he went to Charles-Town, 
and was there so fortunate as to enlist the friendly 
aid of the Honorable Henry Laurens, and to secure 
employment in his counting room. So kind was that 
gentleman to him, that during his residence in that 
city he remained an inmate of his family. Association 
with one so polite, refined, and accomplished, proved 
of great benefit to young Mcintosh, and materially 
conduced to his intellectual and social advancement. 
At this period of his life he is described as " exhibiting 
a fine, manly appearance, and possessing a calm, firm 
temper." 

Seeminsrlv wearied with commercial eno-ao-ements, 
when scarcely of age he took leave of his distinguished 
friend and patron and returned to his home at New 
Inverness, where he married, and adopted the calling 
of a surveyor. There was ample field for employment, 
and good opportunity for the selection of valuable 
lands lying between the Alatamaha and the river St. 
Mary. Of these chances Mcintosh availed himself, 
quickly securing a comfortable livelihood, and acquir- 
ing the promise of a considerable fortune. It was 
while thus engaged that the subject of this sketch was 
called upon to declare his sympathies in the discussion 



142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

which was daily becoi|png more violent between the 
Rebel element in the Province and the adherents to 
the Crown. Manifestly there wan no hesitation on his 
part in casting his lot with the Revolutionists. 

Early in January, 1775, a District Congress was held 
by the inhabitants of St. Andrew's Parish, at which a 
series of manly resolutions — embodying the views of 
a large number of the most influential citizens of the 
Alatamaha settlements — was adopted with much en- 
thusiasm. The first of these resolutions expressed the 
unqualified approval by the members of that Congress 
of " the unparalleled moderation, the decent but firm 
and manly conduct of the loyal and brave people of 
Boston and Massachusetts Bay " in their eftbrts to pre- 
serve their liberties ; their acquiescence in and sanc- 
tion of "all the resolutions of the Grand American 
Congress ; " and their " cheerful accession to the asso- 
ciation entered into by them as the wisest and most 
moderate measure that could be adopted." The second 
resolution, after condemning the closing of the land 
offices to the great detriment of colonial growth and 
the injury of the industrious poor, declared that every 
" encouragement should be given to the indigent of 
every nation by every generous American." The third 
criticised severely ministerial mandates which prohib- 
ited Colonial Assemblies from passing such laws as the 
exigencies of their respective Provinces required. In 
the fourth, the practice of making colonial officers de- 
pendent upon Great Britain for the determination and 
payment of their salaries, thus rendering them " inde- 
pendent of the people who should support them ac- 
cording to their usefulness and behaviour," was heart- 
ily condemned. By the fifth, the Parish declared its 



LACHLAN McINTOSH. 143 

" disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural prac- 
tice of slavery in America," and its determination to 
urge the manumission of our slaves in this Colony 
upon the most safe and equitable footing for the mas- 
ters and themselves." The last resolution provided 
for the election of delegates to represent the district 
in a Provincial Congress, and instructed them to urge 
the appointment of deputies from Georgia to the Con- 
tinental Coni>:ress. 

Appended to these resolutions, which among others 
were signed by Lachlan Mcintosh, appeared the fol- 
lowing Articles of Association : — 

"Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights 
and liberties of America depend, under God, on the 
firm union of the inhabitants in the vigorous prosecu- 
tion of the measures necessary for its safety, and con- 
vinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and 
confusion which attend the dissolution of the forces of 
government, we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabi- 
tants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed 
at the avowed design of the ministry to raise a reve- 
nue in America, and shocked by the bloody scenes 
now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do in the most 
solenni manner resolve never to become slaves ; and 
do associate under all the ties of religion, honor, and 
love of country to adopt and endeavor to carry into 
execution whatever may be recommended by the Con- 
tinental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial 
Convention that shall be appointed, for the purpose 
of preserving our Constitution and opposing the exe- 
cution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of 
the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between 
Great Britain and America on constitutional princi- 



144 BIOr.RAPIIICAL SKETCHES. 

pies, which we most .miently desire, can be obtained ; 
and that we will in all things follow the advice of our 
General Committee, to be appointed, respecting the 
purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good 
order, and the safety of individuals and private prop- 
erty." 

It was in view of these and similar resolutions 
adopted by other parishes in Georgia, that Sir James 
Wright, in addressing the Earl of Dartmouth on the 
13th of February, 1775, said: "Really, my Lord, a 
great many People have worked themselves up to 
such a pitch of political enthusiasm with respect to 
their ideas of Liberty and the powers of the British 
Parliament, and of their right to resist what they call 
unconstitutional laws, that 1 do not expect they will 
yet give up their pretensions." 

In the important Provincial Congress which assem- 
bled in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775, Lachlan 
Mcintosh sat as a delegate from the Parish of St. 
Andrew, and sympathized fully in the conclusions of 
that body. 

On the 7th of January, 1776, the battalion, which 
the Continental Congress on the 4th of the previous 
November ordered to be raised at the common charge 
of the United Provinces for the protection of Georgia, 
was organized by commissioning line officers for the 
eight companies which composed it, and by appoint- 
ing Lachlan Mcintosh as Colonel, Samuel Elbert as 
Lieutenant-Colonel, and Joseph Habersham as Major. 
From this time forward, and until American indepen- 
dence was conceded by the mother country, Lachlan 
Mcintosh remained in the military service of the Con- 
federated Provinces. 



LACHLAN MclNTOSH. 145 

A question having arisen touching a possible con- 
flict of authority between the Continental Congress 
and the Georgia Provincial Congress, or Council of 
Safety, in regard to the command of this battalion, — 
the enlistment of which upon a Continental establish- 
ment had been sanctioned and aided by the General 
Congress, — the matter was set at rest by a written 
declaration, signed by all the field and line officers of 
that organization, pledging themselves as soldiers and 
men of honor to obey all orders emanating from the 
Congresses or Councils of Safety of Georgia, where the 
same did not conflict with the " directions of the Gen- 
eral Congress, or a committee thereof, or of any gen- 
eral or other officer by them appointed." 

In forwarding a copy of this document to General 
George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Ameri- 
can forces, Colonel Mcintosh, on the 16th of February, 
1776, furnished an interesting account of the popula- 
tion, resources, and dangers of the Province, requested 
general instructions as to the conduct of military 
affairs within, the limits of the Colony, and asked to be 
informed how far his command was imder the orders 
of the Provincial Congress, and what rank he and his 
officers should hold when acting with the militia. 

In March, 1776, when Majors Maitland and Grant 
attempted the capture of the rice-laden vessels lying 
in the river opposite Savannah, Colonel Mcintosh with 
three hundred men proceeded to Yamacraw Bluflf, 
where he hastily threw up a breastwork and posted 
three four-pounder guns bearing upon the shipping. 
From this battery, for four hours he fired upon the 
enemy. Galled by canister and solid shot, supple- 
mented by rifle balls from sharpshooters and by vessels 

10 



146 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ignited and turned ^^ift in the river, the British 
troops abandoned their attempt and resumed their sta- 
tion in Tybee Roads. This was the first pastsage-at- 
arnis within the limits of Georgia between the " Sons 
of Liberty " and the King's soldiers. The Rubicon had 
been passed. Blood had been shed, and resistance to 
the death offered on the part of Georgians to English 
dominion. The patriotism displayed by the citizens of 
Savannah, and the manhood exhibited on this occasion 
in defense of their homes and property, merit high 
commendation. Apprehending another and a more 
serious demonstration, Colonel Mcintosh detained his 
battalion in Savannah ready for action. Complying 
M'ith a custom which had obtained when Georgia was 
ruled by Royal governors, Colonel Mcintosh, when the 
Honorable Archibald Bulloch was elected President 
and Commander-in-Chief of Georgia, posted a sentinel 
at the door of his residence. To this his Excellency 
objected, with the remark, " I act for a free people 
in whom I have the most entire confidence, and I wish 
to avoid on all occasions the appearance of ostenta- 
tion." 

When, on the 10th of August, the Declaration of 
Independence was promulgated in Savannah by Presi- 
dent Bulloch, Colonel Mcintosh commanded the pro- 
cession and fired the salutes. 

Responding to the request of General Charles Lee, 
Jonathan Bryan, John Houstoun, and Colonel Mcin- 
tosh — representing the Council of Safety of Georgia 
— waited upon that officer (then in command of the 
Southern Department) at Charlestown, and suggested 
a plan of operations by which it was hoped annoying 
banditti from Florida might be slain or dispersed, and 



LACHLAN McINTOSH. 147 

the town of St. Augustine captured. Moved by the 
representations of this committee, and anxious to put 
a stop to the depredations upon the southern frontier 
of Georgia, General Lee resolved upon an expedition 
for the reduction of East Florida. In the movement 
then inaugurated Colonel Mcintosh and his command 
participated, but it was not pressed beyond Sunbury. 
Want of preparation, the absence of necessary stores 
and transportation, and the recall of General Lee 
converted the whole affair into a miserable fiasco. 
Thereupon Colonel Mcintosh, taking counsel of him- 
self, made the best possible disposition of his command 
along the southern frontier of Georgia for its protec- 
tion. Various skirmishes occurred in this direction, 
and the Province was kept in a state of constant 
alarm. 

The General Assembly of Georgia resolved to add 
three battalions of infantry and a squadron of dragoons 
to the troops serving on the Continental establishment, 
to form them into a brigade, and to promote Colonel 
Mcintosh to the rank of Brigadier-General and assign 
him to their command. Button Gwinnett had been a 
candidate for this position, and he was much embit- 
tered by Mcintosh's success. When by the Council of 
Safety Mr. Gwinnett was elected President and Com- 
mander-in-Chief of Georgia until such time as a gov- 
ernor could be appointed under the provisions of the 
Constitution recently adopted, that gentleman, quick 
in action, brave and ambitious, sought to signalize his 
administration by an expedition against Florida. The 
expectation of retaliation was pleasing to the public ; 
and President Gwinnett hoped, by a quick descent, to 
take the Floridians unawares and win an easy victory. 



148 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Intent upon mortifyirt^^lclntosh, who, as the ranking 
military officer of Georgia, was entitled to command 
the troops detailed for the movement, he set him aside, 
assigned subordinates to special colunnis, and deter- 
mined himself to assume personal conduct and con- 
trol of the expedition. This of course widened the 
breach between those gentlemen. As the story of this 
ill-timed and disastrous expedition has already been 
fully told in the sketch of Button Gwinnett, we refrain 
from repeating it in this connection. 

In the political contest which occurred between 
Button Gwinnett and John Adam Treutlen, during the 
session of the Legislature in May, 1777, for the gu- 
bernatorial chair, the latter was successful. Treutlen's 
cause had been warmly espoused by Mcintosh, who 
was open and violent in his denunciations of Gwinnett. 
The quarrel between these quick-tempered and brave 
men culminated in a duel, fought on the morning of 
the 16th of May, 1777, within the present limits of 
the city of Savannah. The w^eapons used were pistols, 
and the principals were posted at the short distance 
of only four paces. At the first discharge both were 
struck. Gwinnett's thigh was shattered, and he sank 
upon the ground. When asked if he desired to ex- 
change another shot, he responded, " Yes, if I should 
be helped up." The seconds, however, intervened, and 
Gwinnett was borne from the field. The weather was 
very hot. Mortification quickly ensued, and Gwinnett 
expired on the fourth day after receiving his mortal 
hurt. Mcintosh was confined to his couch for some 
time. Gwinnett's death created much excitement. 
Dr. Lyman Hall — a warm personal friend of the de- 
ceased, and one of his executors — and other promi- 



LACHLAN McINTOSH. 149 

nent\ gentlemen brought the matter to the notice of 
the Legislature, and accused the officers of the law of a 
neglect^ of duty in not arresting Mcintosh and binding 
him over to answer to a charge of murder. Informed 
of what was transpiring, the General, as soon as his 
wound would permit, surrendered himself to Judge 
Glen, entered into bond for his appearance, was in- 
dicted, tried, and acquitted. Even this determination 
of the matter did not alia}'' the animosity of Gwin- 
nett's friends, who, angered at the death of their 
leader, endeavored to impair the influence of Mcin- 
tosh, and to fetter his usefulness in the public service. 
Moved by the circumstances, invoking the interven- 
tion of his friend, the Honorable Henry Laurens, and 
finally securing an order ^ from the Continental Con- 
gress, General Mcintosh — surrendering his command 
in Georgia, and taking with him as his deputy adju- 
tant-general his son. Captain Lachlan Mcintosh, and 
as his brigade major his young friend. Captain John 
Berrien — reported at Washington's headquarters for 
assignment to another field of duty. For some time 
he was placed in advance of the central army, and was 
actively engaged in watching the movements of Gen- 
eral Howe's forces, then concentrated in Philadelphia. 
Subsequently he was entrusted with the command of 
the western districts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. So 
soon as measures had been fully concerted between 
Count D'Estaing and General Benjamin Lincoln for 
the repossession of Savannah and Southern Georgia, 
then held by the British troops under General Pre- 
vost, anxious to participate in this important move- 
ment, General Mcintosh, who had then completed his 

1 Dated August 1, 177 7. 



150 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

arrangements for an #Rack upon Detroit, applied for 
permission to return to Georgia. Sympathizing in the 
propriety of this wish on the part of his lieutenant, 
General Washington signified his approval, and gave 
to General Mcintosh a letter addressed to the Conti- 
nental Congress, in which, under date of May 11, 1779, 
he says : " Brigadier-General Mcintosh will have the 
honor of delivering you this. The war in Georgia, 
being the State to which he belongs, makes him desir- 
ous of serving in the Southern army. I know not 
whether the arrangements Congress have in contem- 
plation may make it convenient to employ him there : 
but I take the liberty to recommend him as a gentle- 
man whose knowledge of service and of the country 
promises to make him useful. I beg leave to add, 
that General Mcintosh's conduct, while he acted im- 
mediately under my observation, was such as to acquire 
my esteem and confidence, and 1 have had no reason 
since to alter my good opinion of him," 

His application being sanctioned by the Continental 
Congress, General Mcintosh proceeded to Charlestown, 
where he reported to General Benjamin Lincoln, then 
in command of the Southern Department. By that 
officer he was assigned to the connnand of the Conti- 
nental forces in Georgia, and his headquarters were, 
for the time being, established at Augusta. It was 
from this point, in association with Count Pulaski, that 
General Mcintosh, early in September, 1779, moved 
upon Savannah, reaching its vicinity in advance of the 
army under General Lincoln, occupying a position 
between that town and Great Ogeechee Ferry, and 
there awaiting the concentration of the allied troops. 
It lies not within the compass of this sketch to recount 



LACHLAN Mcintosh. 151 

the incidents connected with the siege of Savannah.^ 
Suffice it to say that General Mcintosh, as second in 
command of the American forces, actively participated 
in the siege, and led one of the columns of assault on 
the Spring Hill redoubt, on the bloody and disastrous 
morning of the 9th of October, 1779. In the conduct 
of all operations committed to his guidance he exhib- 
ited a courage and an ability worthy of every com- 
mendation. His position was peculiarly trying, for 
his wife and family were within the city lines, and 
were for weeks exposed to the fury of the fire of the 
investing batteries. 

When the siege was raised, the French troops — 
betaking themselves to their fleet — departed; and 
the American forces under General Lincoln retreated 
upon Charlestown, where, after a protracted and gal- 
lant defense, they were compelled to surrender to 
General Clinton. Among the general officers captured 
on that occasion was Brigadier-General Lachlan Mcin- 
tosh. When released, he retired with his family to 
Virginia; from that time forward, and until the suc- 
cessful termination of the war, participating but little 
in military affairs. His companions in arms, when they 
were made acquainted with his purpose to establish 
his temporary home in Virginia, united in a compli- 
mentary communication to Governor Jefferson, com- 
mending General Mcintosh to the particular notice of 
that State, and requesting in his behalf such allowance 
of lands and other emoluments as were given for the 
encouragement and reward of efficient officers belong- 
ing to the Virginia line. 

^ For a full account, see Jones's History of Georgia, vol. ii. pp. 375-416. 
Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1883. 



152 BIOGRArHICAL SKETCFIES. 

Upon his return tq^Keorgia in 1779, after an ab- 
sence of some two years, General Mcintosh hoped that 
time had healed all wounds, and that he would be per- 
mitted, without jealousy or opposition, to devote his 
time and energies to the defense of his home and 
people. In this pleasing anticipation he was disap- 
pointed. On the 30th of November, 1779, a letter, 
purporting to be signed by William Glascock, Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, was transmitted by 
George Walton, then Governor of Georgia, to the 
President of the Continental Congress, assuring that 
body of the dissatisfaction experienced by the people 
of Georojia at the assi^-nment of General Mcintosh to 
the command of the military in that State, and ear- 
nestly suggesting that " some distant field for the exer- 
cise of his abilities" should be selected. So thoroughly 
did this communication, supported by the representa- 
tions of General Mcintosh's enemies, poison the minds 
of the members of the Continental Congress that they 
resolved, on the 15th of Februarj'', 1780, to "dispense 
with the services of Brigadier-General Mcintosh until 
the further order of Congress." 

Upon inquiry, this letter proved to be an utter for- 
gery ; and, after a review of the w'hole aflair, the Le- 
gislature of Georgia " resolved that General Mcintosh 
be informed that this House does entertain an abhor- 
rence of all such injurious attempts made use of, as 
appears by the papers laid before them, to injure the 
character of an officer and citizen of this State w^ho 
merits the attention of the Legislature for his early, 
decided, and persevering efforts in the defense of 
America; of which virtue this House has the highest 
sense." 



LACHLAN McINTOSH. 153 

Upon the evacuation of Savannah by General Alu- 
red Chxrke and the Kini>:'s forces in the summer of 
1782, General Mcintosh returned with his family to 
Georgia, and, from that time until his death on the 
20th of February, 1806, continued to reside in that 
town and its vicinity. In 1784 he was complimented 
with a seat in the Continental Congress. Of the im- 
portant commission charged with the settlement of the 
boundary between Georgia and South Carolina he was 
a member. He also represented Georgia in the accom- 
modation of disputes with the Creek and Cherokee 
nations. 

With the exception of these occasional and limited 
public emplojmients, General Mcintosh passed the re- 
mainder of his days in retirement. Although small his 
fortune, he was rich in the esteem, the friendship, and 
the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. 

He was for years the President of the Georgia 
Branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. Upon the 
occasion of President WashinQ-ton's visit to Savannah 
in May, 1791, he was attended by General Mcintosh 
when he inspected the lines constructed by the British 
in 1779 for the defense of Savannah, and the ap- 
proaches and batteries then made by the Allied Army. 
Having himself participated in the siege and in the 
assault of the 9th of October, General Mcintosh was 
able to convey to the President full information touch- 
ing the whole affair. The earth mounds covering the 
slain, the lines of circumvallation, the sand parapets 
and gun chambers, had not then yielded to the influ- 
ences of time and an encroaching population. The 
scars of the siege were still upon the bosom of the 
plain, and some of the houses within the limits of the 



154 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

city bore the marks d^he lethal missiles which were 
then hurled. About him stood those who had passed 
through that baptism of fire. The President exhib- 
ited a deep interest in everything he then saw and 
heard. 

The writer of the memoir which appears in the third 
volume of " The National Portrait Gallery of Distin- 
guished Americans " describes General Mcintosh as 
being five feet eleven inches tall, " of athletic form and 
great activity." While a lad at New Inverness, there 
was not an Indian in the neighborhood who could 
compete with him in fleetness of foot; and when 
twenty-five years of age, a friend spoke of him as 
" the handsomest man he had ever seen." A county 
in Southern Georgia perpetuates the name of the 
Mcintosh family, which, since its settlement upon the 
Alatamaha, has in four wars given brave and distin- 
guished members to the military service of colony, 
commonwealth, and nation.^ 

1 General Mcintosh's will was probated in Chatham County, Georgia, 
on the 5th of May, 1806, and is now of file in the Ordinary's Office in Sa- 
vannah. 



WILLIAM PIERCE. 

It is claimed by respectable authority that this gen- 
tleman was born in Georgia about 1740. Of his early 
life we find no mention beyond the fact that his educa- 
tion was liberal, and that his pursuits were mercantile 
in their character. His first distinction was won in 
arms as an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene, 
whose friendship and confidence he appears to have 
enjoyed to the fullest extent. For his meritorious 
conduct at the battle of Eutaws he was complimented 
by the American Congress and presented with a sword. 
In the Continental service he rose to the grade of 
major. 

Upon the conclusion of the war of the Revolution 
Major Pierce resumed his residence in Savannah, where 
he became the head of the mercantile house of William 
Pierce & Co. Chancing upon misfortune, that firm 
went into liquidation in 1788. During the years 1786 
and 1787 he was a Delegate from Georgia to the Con- 
tinental Congress. He had previously represented the 
County of Chatliam in the State Legislature. 

On the 10th of February, 1787, in association with 
William Few, Abram Baldwin, George Walton, William 
Houstoun, and Nathaniel Pendleton, he was appointed 
a deputy from Georgia to the Philadelphia Convention 
called for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitu- 
tion. He took his seat in that Convention on the 31st 
of May, and participated in the deliberations. He was 



156 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

not present Avhen tlit^onstitution finally formulated 
was signed. His impressions of the labors and conclu- 
sions of the Convention are given in cxlcnso in a well- 
considered and very interesting letter, dated in New 
York city on the 28th of September, 1787, and ad- 
dressed by hiui to St. George Tucker, Esquire. The full 
text of this important communication may be fourid in 
the Georgia Gaze tie of March 20, 1788. 

That letter inclosed to Mr. Tucker a copy of the 
Constitution. " You will," writes Major Pierce, " prob- 
ably be surprised at not finding my name affixed to 
it; and will no doubt be desirous of having a reason 
for it. Know then. Sir, that 1 was absent in New York 
on a piece of business so necessary that it became un- 
avoidable. I approve of its principles, and would have 
signed it with all my heart had I been present. To 
say, however, that I consider it as perfect would be to 
make an acknowledgment immediately opposed to my 
judgment. Perhaps it is the only one which will suit 
our present situation. The wisdom of the Convention 
was equal to something greater ; but a variety of local 
circuuistances, the inequality of States, and the disso- 
nant interests of the different parts of the Union made 
it impossible to give it any other shape or form." 

The writer then passes the salient features of the 
Constitution in a review worthy of careful considera- 
tion, which we would gladly here reproduce did the 
limits of this sketch permit. He was an earnest advo- 
cate of an election by the people of the members of 
the House of Representatives, and by the States of the 
Senators, whose terms of service he preferred to limit 
to three years. 

Major Pierce died in the city of Savannah, Georgia, 



WILLIAM PIERCE. 157 

on the 10th of December, 1789, and the following 
tribute to his memory is reproduced from the contem- 
porary columns of the Georgia Gazette : — 

"To speak of the dead is no nncommon thing: how- 
ever, a friend cannot refrain from paying the last trib- 
ute to the manes of Major WILLIAM PIERCE, who 
died last Thursday week [December 10, 1789] uni- 
versally regretted. He, at an early period of the con- 
test between America and Great Britain, took a decided 
part in favour of his country, which he loved to his last 
moments: for we may say when the hand of Death was 
over him he was a candidate to become its servant. 
He was particularly noticed by that gallant officer Gen. 
Greene, who honoured him with his friendship and most 
secret confidence. Congress in respect to his services 
at the battle of the Eutaws made him a compliment of 
an elegant Sword as a token of their approbation of 
his conduct. He had the honour to represent Chat- 
ham County in the General Assembly; and was sent 
as a Delegate from this State to Congress at a time 
when deliberation and great judgment were necessary; 
which duties he discharged to the satisfaction of his 
Countrij. 

"Though born with a delicate constitution, he had till 
lately enjoyed a firm, uninterrupted state of health, 
which however was, from the fatigues of the war, 
diversities of climes and elements, at length imder- 
mined and destroyed : His manners polite and obliging, 
his reasonings precise, his diction ^ perspicuous and elo- 
quent: His love of truth was not tainted by the desire 
of popularity, nor his modesty impaired by the favours 
of those in power ; for he was of no party, but the gen- 

^ See bis oration delivered on the 4th Julv. 



158 BIOGRAnilCAL SKETCHES. 

eral good of his coiintM|| His way of thinking had pre- 
served him from the pursuits of selfishness and sordid 
intrigues : his character appeared worthy of the favours 
of Fortune ; but alas! he stood the hardest tests of mis- 
fortune : a sincere, and occasionally an active friend ; 
always an agreeahle companion. The Society of the 
Cincinnati honoured him as their Vice President, and by 
whom he was attended as mourners to the tomb. An 
affectionate and endearing husband, a kind master, and 
all that was worth possessing in a domestick situation. 
He supported a lingering disease, and beheld the slow 
approaches of Death with philosophical calmness and 
serenity; and I am told by a friend who visited him at 
that solemn period, when he took leave of his wife and 
friends his soul seemed, as it were, already received in 
the blissful mansions of the blessed — to make use of 
his own words, which were the last he uttered, ' Fare- 
well ! farewell all ! Now dies the happy man.' " ^ 

Upon the 4th of July, 1789, when the anniversary of 
American Independence was celebrated by the Georgia 
Society of the Cincinnati, at Hamilton's Long Room in 
Savannah, and the oration was pronounced by Major 
Pierce, the following officers were elected: — 

Major-General Anthony Wayne, President. 

Major William Pierce, Vice-President. 

Major John Habersham, Secretary. 

Colonel Richard Wylly, Treasurer. 

John Peter Ward, Esqr., Assistant Secretary. 

Edward Lloyd, Esqr., Assistant Treasurer. 
At the " elegant dinner " which crowned a day of 
"great harmony and conviviality" the following toasts 
were drank : — 

1 The Georcjia GazeUe [No. 361], Thursday, December 24, 1789. 



WILLIAM PIERCE. 159 

"1. The President-General of the Society and of the 
Union. 

2. The respective State Societies. 

3. Prosperity and Happiness to our dear Country. 

4. The People. 

5. Agriculture and Commerce. 

6. The Legislature of the Union; — wisdom, una- 
nimity, and a happy operation to their measures. 

7. Peace and Harmony. 

8. The King of France, and the Officers of his Army 
who assisted in establishing the American Independence. 

9. The Governor and State of Georgia. 

10. The Memory of our departed Brethren. 

11. The Republicks of the World, where law and not 
the will of despots rules. 

12. May Policy dictate a just Reward for Publick 
Service. 

13. May North Carolina and Rhode Island by a 
speedy Adoption of the Federal Constitution complete 
the Number of the Thirteen United States." 



SAMUEL STIRK. 

Mr. Stirk is believed to have been a native of Savan- 
nah, Georgia. He there resided nnd was a practitioner 
of law when he first attracted public notice. 

Of the Executive Council chosen in 1777 — when 
John Adam Treutlen, defeating Button Gwinnett, was 
elected first Republican Governor of Georgia — Benja- 
min Andrew was complimented with the Presidency, 
and Samuel Stirk was appointed Clerk. 

By the Assembly convened in Augusta he was, on 
the 16th of August, 1781, elected a Delegate from 
Georgia to the Continental Congress. By the same 
Legislature he was honored with the position of Attor- 
ney-General of Georgia, and to this office he was re- 
elected in January, 1783. Simultaneously wdth this 
latter appointment, he was named as a Commissioner 
on the part of the State to negotiate with Governor 
Patrick Tonyn, of East Florida, for the accommodation 
of all differences and the prevention of further disturb- 
ances along the line of the river St. Mary. 

Among the Justices of Chatham County his name 
appears in 1786, and also in 1789. During the last- 
mentioned year he was President of the Board of War- 
dens of Savannah. 

In 1778 and 1779 he was in the military service of 
the State and Confederation ; and, with the rank of 
Lieutenant-Colonel, participated in the ill-starred expe- 
dition launched by President Gwinnett against East 
Florida. 



EDWARD TELFAIR. 

This gentleman, distinguished alike for his attractive 
social qualities, admirable business methods, integrity, 
financial ability, and statesmanlike conduct, was a na- 
tive of Scotland. He was born in 1735 on the farm 
of Town Head, the ancestral estate of the Telfairs, 
which has since passed into the ownership of the Earl 
of Selkirk. Having received his English education at 
the grammar school of Kirkcudbright, he subsequently 
applied himself to the acquisition of a thorough com- 
mercial training, and at the age of twenty-three com- 
ing to America as the representative of a business 
house, resided for some time in Virginia. He after- 
wards removed to Halifax, North Carolina, and subse- 
quently, in 1766, settled in Savannah, Georgia.^ By 
energy, thrift, fair dealing, and enterprise, he soon es- 
tablished a lucrative business in what was then the 
commercial metropolis of the Province. Deeply im- 
mersed in trade was he when the disagreements be- 
tween the American Colonies and the mother country 
began to assume decided and alarming proportions. 
That he did not long hesitate in choosing sides upon 
the momentous questions which then agitated the pub- 
lic mind may be fairly inferred, because, as early as the 

^ See Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences, chiefly of the Revolution 
in the South, p. 200. Charleston, S. C, 1851. 
1 1 



1G2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

27th of July, 1774, w^lid him a member of two com- 
mittees raised by the Republican party in Georgia, — 
one to assure the other American Colonies of the rebel 
sentiments of the Province, and of its determination to 
share the common lot in the effort to win independence 
from British rule ; and the other to solicit and forward 
supplies for the relief of the suffering patriots in 
Boston. 

As a Delegate elected by the liberty-seeking citizens 
of Savannah on the 8th of December in the same year, 
he participated in the deliberations of the Provincial 
•Congress which assembled on the 18tli of the following 
January. 

In association with Dr. Noble W. Jones, Joseph Ha- 
bersham, and others, — most of them members of the 
Council of Safety and all zealous in the cause of Amer- 
ican freedom, — he personally assisted in breaking open 
the public magazine in Savannah, and in removing 
therefrom a goodly quantity of the King's powder 
with which to supply the urgent needs of the Revolu- 
tionists. 

On the 21st of June, 1775, he was elected a member 
of the Council of Safety ; and, in the Provincial Con- 
gress which assembled in Savannah on the 4th of the 
following July, he appeared and took his seat as a Dele- 
gate from the "Town and District of Savannah." He 
was of the committee then selected to frame an address 
to his Excellency Governor Wright; was placed upon 
the " Committee of Intelligence ; " and was constituted 
a member of another committee to present to tlie in- 
habitants of the town and district of Savannah the 
" Article of Association " adopted by the Congress. 
Before adjourning, this body, on the 11th of December, 



EDWARD TELFAIR. 163 

elected a new Council of Safety, and Mr. Telfair was 
named as one of its members. 

Early in 1778 he was chosen a Delegate from Geor- 
gia to the Continental Congress. In the following 
July, together with George Walton and Edward Lang- 
worthy, he affixed his signature to the " Articles of 
Confederation." One leave of absence excepted, he 
remained a member of the Continental Congress until 
January, 1783. In May, 1785, he was complimented 
by another election to the old Congress, but it is be- 
lieved that he did not resume his seat in obedience to 
this summons. While in Congress his services were 
specially valuable in the domain of finances. On the 
15th of February, 1783, he was designated as an agent 
on the part of Georgia to settle the northern boundary 
of the Commonwealth. He also represented the State 
in consummating, at Augusta, during the same year, 
important treaties with the Cherokee and Creek In- 
dians. 

Three years afterwards he was honored with the 
Chief Magistracy of Georgia. His conduct in the dis- 
charge of this exalted trust was characterized by wis- 
dom, dignity, and firmness. It required no little skill 
and discretion to avoid a threatened war with the 
Cherokees. In compelling the removal of the public 
records from Savannah to the seat of government, he 
encountered not only the protest but also the active 
opposition of many prominent parties. The measures, 
however, which he adopted to compass this proper 
transfer were so prompt and decisive that both the 
dignity of the Commonwealth and the majesty of the 
law were maintained. Much of his time and thought 
was bestowed upon the public finances, and in devis- 



164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ing the best scheme ||^ liberating Georgia from the 
annoying indebtedness which then oppressed her. It 
was during his administration that Georgia w^as called 
upon to mourn the demise of her adopted son, who, 
next to Washington, challenged the public confidence 
and esteem, — the great and good General Nathanael 
Greene. In obedience to his orders, reckless bands of 
runaway slaves, who, defying the laws, with arms in 
their hands, were plundering the plantations on the 
Lower Savannah, were thoroughly dispersed by the 
militia. 

He was a member of the convention which ratified 
the Constitution of the United States. 

On the 9th of November, 1789, Mr. Telfair was 
again called to the gubernatorial chair. He w\as the 
first chief magistrate elected and qualified under the 
new Constitution. It was his pleasure and privilege to 
welcome to his home in Augusta, which was then the 
capital of the State, President Washington, in May, 
1791, and to extend every honor and courtesy which 
place and circumstance could contribute. On the de- 
parture of the General, he addressed to Governor Tel- 
fliir the following courteous communication: — 

" Augusta, 20ni May, 1791. 

" To HIS Excellency Edward Telfair, 

Governor of Georgia : 
"Sir, — Obeying the impulse of a heartfelt gratitude, 
I express with particular pleasure my sense of obliga- 
tions which your Excellency's goodness and the kind 
regard of your citizens have conferred upon me. I 
shall always retain a most pleasing remembrance of 
the polite and hospitable attentions which I have re- 



EDWARD TELFAIR. 165 

ceived in my tour through the State of Georgia, and 
during my stay at the residence of your government. 

" The manner in which you are pleased to recognize 
my pubhc services, and to regard my private felicity, 
excites my sensibility and claims my grateful acknow- 
ledgments. Your Excellency will do justice to the sen- 
timents which influence my wishes by believing that 
they are sincerely offered for your personal happiness 
and the prosperity of the State over which you pre- 
side. 

"George Washington." 

The hospitality extended by Governor Telfair, on 
this occasion, to his distinguished guest at his home 
on the outskirts of Augusta, called The Grove, was 
generous and refined to the last degree. 

Without specifying the particular duties which 
claimed Governor Telfair's attention as the chief ma- 
gistrate of Georgia, it may be stated that to the per- 
formance of his public duties he brought broad experi- 
ence, business capacity of a high order, a singleness of 
purpose, and a devotion to duty which made his ad- 
ministration of the affairs of state prompt, direct, and 
effective. 

Upon the expiration of his gubernatorial labors he 
returned to his home in Savannah, where the last years 
of his life were given to the careful conduct of his 
extensive private business, to dispensing hospitality, 
and to participating in, and presiding over, convoca- 
tions of his fellow-citizens on important occasions. 

In this city he died on the 19th of September, 1807, 
and was buried with every honor which public esteem 
and private friendship could extend. 



166 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Among the membei^^om Georgia of the Continental 
Congress Governor Telfair was perhaps possessed of the 
greatest wealth. Although during the war of the Eev- 
olution he encountered considerable mutation in for- 
tune, and at one time with his family sought refuge in 
Fredericktown, Maryland, upon the return of peace he 
quickly recovered his losses and added largely to his 
former possessions. 

Considering the place and the period, Governor Tel- 
fair's commercial operations were very successful and 
extensive. He maintained good credit in, and impor- 
tant business connections with, the West Indies, Charles- 
town, Philadelphia, New York, Newport, Liverpool, 
London, etc. Dealing largely in rice, lumber, cotton, 
indigo, and other staple commodities, he operated on 
his own account and sold upon commission. As the 
owner of sawmills judiciously located, and of sev- 
eral valuable plantations well equipped with negroes, 
animals, and agricultural implements, his income — 
aside from that derived from his commercial business 
— was generous. A capital financier, he became one 
of the richest men of his day and generation in Geor- 
gia ; and the estate which he accumulated — properly 
husbanded and judiciously administered by his daugh- 
ters — has recently been dispensed in public charities 
of the most useful and abundant character. Prominent 
among them may be mentioned Hodgson Hall — the 
home of the Georgia Historical Society — and the Tel- 
fair Academy of Arts and Sciences. In passing upon 
and sustaining the charitable bequests contained in the 
will of Miss Telfair, when their validity was questioned 
in the courts, Mr. Justice Bradley observed: "It is a 
laudable ambition to wish to transmit one's name to 



\ 



EDWARD TELFAIR. 167 

posterity by deeds of beneficence. The millionaire who 
leaves the world without doing anything for the bene- 
fit of society, or for the advancement of science, moral- 
ity, or civilization, turns to dust and is forgotten ; but 
he who employs a princely fortune in founding institu- 
tions for the alleviation of suffering or the elevation of 
his race erects a monument more noble, and generally 
more effective to preserve his name, than the Pyramids. 
Thousands of the wealthy and the noble in the early 
days of English civilization are deservedly forgotten ; 
but the founders of colleges in Oxford and Cambridge 
will be borne on the grateful memories of Englishmen 
as long as their empire lasts. Harvard and Yale in 
our own country are pertinent examples of this truth." 
In the history of testaments Georgia has never known 
charitable bequests of such magnitude and liberal scope 
as those passing under the wills of the daughters of 
Governor Telfair,^ distributing the large estate which 
in great measure was accumulated and transmitted by 
him. Not only by these prominent charities, but also 
in the records of the period, and by a county named in 
his honor, is his memory worthily perpetuated. 

1 His will was probated in Chatham County on the 4th of January, 
1808, and is now of file in the Ordinary's Office in Savannah. 



GEORGE WALTON. 

It was a remark of D'Alembert that high office 
resembles a pyramid, the summit of which can be 
reached only by reptiles and eagles. 

We recall no citizen of Georgia who, during a life 
extending over little more than half a century, ac- 
quired loftier or more numerous honors within the 
gift of the Commonwealth than the Honorable George 
Walton. In the attainment, enjoyment, and execution 
of the political and judicial trusts committed to his 
keeping, no slime of the serpent besmirched his path- 
way. In the discharge of the duties devolved upon him 
he was fearless, conscientious, and capable. In all sta- 
tions he fulfilled every legitimate expectation. With- 
out the adjuvatives of birth, education, and fortune, 
he won and maintained his right to preferment by 
conscientious endeavor, consecutive study, tireless in- 
dustry, and unquestioned ability. His life, labors, and 
success afford brilliant illustration of what, in this 
democratic country, may be achieved by honesty of 
purpose, natural talent, courageous action, earnest 
effort, and inflexible will. 

Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1749, 
and becoming an orphan at a tender age, he passed 
under the care of a guardian who, as the family tradi- 
tion runs, unwilling to assume the burden of his cus- 
tody and education, apprenticed him to a carpenter. 
The industry and fidelity of the lad were commend- 



GEORGE WALTON. 169 

able, and his desire for intellectual improvement at- 
tracted the notice both of employer and companions. 
Unable, during the day, to give any attention to his 
books, and too poor to afford the luxury of a lamp, he 
read them nightly by the light of fat fagots which he 
collected and husbanded for that purpose. Intent upon 
his studies, he refrained from those nocturnal sports 
which too often lead the young and inexperienced 
into dissipation, idleness, and sometimes ruin. By judi- 
cious use of his evening hours he made, under the cir- 
cumstances, rapid advancement in knowledge ; eagerly 
perusing all good .books which could be borrowed from 
friends and neighbors. 

So favorably impressed was the master with the 
character, intelligence, and ambition of his apprentice 
that long before his articles were concluded he relieved 
him from their obligation, and permitted him to retain 
the fruits of his daily industrj^ Thus young Walton 
accumulated some money, which enabled him, when 
about twenty years of age, to leave Virginia and seek 
new fortunes in Savannah. 

Arriving at this little commercial metropolis of the 
Colony of Georgia, he resolved to become a lawyer. 
Henry Young, Esq., received him into his office, and 
gave him the benefit of his library and of his instruc- 
tion. After suitable preparation he was called to the 
bar, and at once entered with zeal upon the practice 
of the profession of his choice. That success early 
attended upon his efforts may be fairly admitted ; for 
we have before us an opinion given by him to Edward 
Telfair, Esq. — then a gentleman of influence and 
ample means, afterwards a member of the Continental 
Congress and a Governor of Georgia — upon a ques- 



170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

tioii of considerable ii^pnent. This opinion was fur- 
nished in 1774, and his employment by so prominent 
a merchant as Mr. Telfair speaks well for the standing 
of the young attorney in the community. 

In 1777 he married Dorothy Camber, — young and 
fair, — to whom he was devotedly attached, and from 
whom, during the progress of the war of the Revolu- 
tion, he for some time suffered painful separation. 

The passage of the Boston Port Bill, the first step 
in a system of coercive measures adopted by the Brit- 
ish ministry ; — of a second act, which provided that 
the Provincial Council of Massachusetts — previously 
elected by the representative assembly in accordance 
with charter privileges — should thereafter be ap- 
pointed by the Crown ; that the Royal Governor should 
be invested with the power of nominating and remov- 
ing judges, sheriffs, and otiier executive officers whose 
functions possessed the slightest importance; that jury- 
men, hitherto selected by the freeholders and citizens 
of the several towns, should in future be nominated 
and summoned by the sheriffs ; that no town-meetings 
of the inhabitants should be convoked without permis- 
sion in writing froin the Royal Governor, and that no 
business should then be discussed other than the mat- 
ters specified and approved in the Governor's license ; 
— and of a third act, which empowered the Governor 
of the Province, if he saw fit, to commit any parties 
indicted for murder or charged with capital offenses, 
for trial, either to another Colony or to Great Britain, 
aroused the opposition of liberal statesmen in England, 
and was justly regarded in America as forming a 
complete system of tyranny. By the first, exclaimed 
the organs of popular opinion in the Colonies, thou- 



GEORGE WALTON. 171 

sands of innocent persons are, by the act of a few 
individuals, robbed of their livelihood ; by the second, 
chartered liberties are annihilated ; and by the third, 
lives may be destroyed with impunity. The passage of 
the Quebec Bill also enhanced the general indignation. 

A knowledge of this legislation and an apprehension 
of its pernicious influence inflamed the minds of the pa- 
triots in South Carolina and Georgia, and induced them 
to give early and decided expression to their views of 
condemnation and opposition. 

Responding to a public call, a respectable number of 
the freeholders and inhabitants of the Province assem- 
bled at the Watch House, in Savannah, on the 27th of 
July, 1774. After an animated discussion, a commit- 
tee was raised, of which George Walton was a mem- 
ber, to prepare resolutions — similar to those adopted 
by the Northern Colonies — declaratory of Georgia's 
condemnation of the oppressive measures inaugurated 
by Parliament. That there might be an expression 
of opinion from some of the more distant parishes. 
— unrepresented in this convocation, — the meeting 
" stood adjourned " until the 10th of the following 
August. 

Alarmed at the drift of events. Governor Wright 
convened his Council and consulted as to the best 
method of checking proceedings which he denounced 
as unjustifiable and revolutionary. As a result of the 
conference. Sir James issued a proclamation pronoun- 
cing the purposed assemblage " unconstitutional, illegal, 
and punishable by law," and warned all loyal subjects 
of his Majesty to refrain from participating therein. 
In direct opposition to the wish of his Excellency, and 
in utter disregard of his proclamation, a large meeting 



172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of the inhabitants of Jj^ Province was held at Ton- 
dee's Tavern, in Savannah, at the time designated. 
Resolutions, framed by the committee selected at the 
previous assemblage, were unanimously adopted, claim- 
ing that as protection and allegiance were reciprocal 
and, under the British Constitution, correlative terms, 
his Majesty's subjects in America had a clear and 
indisputable right to petition the Throne upon every 
emergency; condemning Parliamentary legislation with 
regard to the port of Boston, the abolition of the 
Charter of Massachusetts Bay, the attempt to tax 
without representation, and the effort to deprive any 
colonist of the privilege of trial by his peers from the 
vicinage ; promising cooperation with sister Ameri- 
can Colonies in all constitutional measures to obtain 
redress of American grievances, and in the effort to 
maintain the inestimable blessings derived from God 
and the Magna Charta ; and appointing a committee 
of conference with full powers, and also a special com- 
mittee to solicit, receive, and forward subscriptions and 
supplies for the suffering poor in Boston. With the 
preparation and support of these patriotic and compre- 
hensive resolutions George Walton was earnestly and 
prominently connected. 

As might be well imagined, the effect of this con- 
vention, and of the adoption of these resolutions, was 
to confirm the division of sentiment in Georgia upon 
the political questions of the day. The Royal party 
was. strong and alert, while the "Liberty Boys" were 
intent upon acquiring the mastery and placing the 
Province fiiirly within the lists of the Revolutionists. 

Although a motion to " send six deputies to the 
General Cono-ress of the American Colonies " was en- 



GEORGE WALTON. 173 

tertained and pressed, it did not receive the sanction 
of the meeting of the 10th of August. 

To the Republicans the position occupied by Geor- 
gia was distasteful and mortifying. From her isolated 
attitude, from her apparent indifference to the com- 
pact into which the American Colonies had entered, 
from the controlling influence of Governor Wright and 
his Council, and from the ban under which she was 
placed in the esteem of the Confederated Provinces by 
her failure to participate in the deliberations of and to 
be bound by the conclusions reached by the Continen- 
tal Congress, they determined to liberate her at the 
earliest practicable moment. 

St. John's Parish, impatient of the delay, acted upon 
her own responsibility ; and, in advance of the Colony, 
sent Dr. Lyman Hall as a special Delegate to the Con- 
tinental Congress. 

On the 21st of June, 1775, a call was published, signed 
by Noble Wymberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John 
Houstoun, and George Walton, requesting the inhabi- 
tants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at 
the Liberty Pole on the following day, at ten o'clock in 
the forenoon, for the purpose of selecting a committee 
to bring about a union of Georgia with her sister Colo- 
nies in the cause of freedom. The alarming situation 
of affairs in America, and particularly in Georgia, was 
urged as a reason for punctual and full attendance. 

At the appointed place and designated hour many 
were present ; and a Council of Safety, consisting 
of William Ewen, William Le Conte, Joseph Clay, 
Basil Cooper, Samuel Elbert, William Young, Elisha 
Butler, Edward Telfair, John Glen, George Hous- 
toun, George Walton, Joseph Habersham, Francis H. 



174 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Harris, Jolin Smith,^ohn Morel, and Seth John 
Cuthbert, was selected, with instructions to maintain 
an active correspondence with the Continental Con- 
gress, with Councils of Safety in other Provinces, and 
with committees raised in Georgia parishes. This 
business concluded, a number of gentlemen who had 
attended the meeting dined at Tondee's Tavern. A 
Union flag was hoisted upon the Liberty Pole, at the 
foot of which two field pieces were posted ; thirteen 
patriotic toasts were drunk, each being responded to by 
discharges from the cannon and by martial music : and 
all this within sight and hearing of the Royal Governor 
and his Council. It was daily becoming more evident 
that the power of the King's party in Georgia was on 
the wane ; that the period of doubt and hesitation was 
nearing an end ; and that the Province would soon be 
prepared to link her fortunes with those of her twelve 
sisters. Meetings were called in all the parishes to 
commission Delegates to a Provincial Congress which 
was to assemble in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775. 
The Colony was thoroughly aroused, and resolved upon 
decisive action. Even Governor Wright, — hitherto 
so hopeful of the future, and entertaining such high 
impression of the power of the Royal party, — in a let- 
ter to Lord Dartmouth, under date of the 17th of 
June, expressed the belief that the members of the 
approaching convention would not fail to " entirely 
approve of whatever might be determined upon by 
the Continental Conojress." 

Memorable in the political annals of Georgia were 
the proceedings of this Provincial Congress which con- 
vened in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775. Every 
parish was represented, and the Delegates were fitting 



GEORGE WALTON. 175 

exponents of the intelligence, the dominant hopes, and 
the material interests of the communities from which 
they respectively came. This was Georgia's first seces- 
sion convention. It placed the Province in active sym- 
pathy and confederated alliance with the twelve other 
American Colonies, practically annulled within her 
limits the operation of the objectionable acts of Par- 
liament, questioned the supremacy of the Realm, and 
inaugurated measures calculated to accomplish the in- 
dependence of the plantation and its erection into the 
dignity of a State. In all the political agitations and 
movements which antedated and led up to this impor- 
tant convocation, George Walton had borne a j)romi- 
nent part. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Archi- 
bald Bulloch, Noble Wymberley Jones, John Houstoun, 
the brothers Joseph and John Habersham, Jonathan 
Bryan, Joseph Clay, Edward Telfair, and others who 
were specially influential in dissipating the power of 
kingly rule. 

This Congress perfected its organization by electing 
Archibald Bulloch president and George Walton secre- 
tary. While it lies not within the compass of this 
sketch to enumerate its proceedings, we may state in 
a general way that it proclaimed, in terms most em- 
phatic, a just conception of the natural and constitu- 
tional rights which appertained to Georgians as citi- 
zens of the Colony and subjects of Great Britain ; 
testified determined opposition to the late objection- 
able acts of Parliament ; expressed admiration for the 
heroism of New England, and a stern resolve to share 
the fortunes of the sister Colonies ; appointed Delegates 
to, and manifested a willingness to observe all orders 
promulgated by, the Continental Congress ; professed 



176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

unswerving loyalty to^e principles of American lib- 
erty, and suggested measures deemed appropriate in 
the present perplexed condition of public affairs. 

Mr. AValton was appointed upon the " Committee 
of Intelligence," and was also named as one of the 
members to present the "Article of Association," then 
adopted, to the inhabitants of the town and district of 
Savannah for signature by them. Tn association with 
the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Dr. Noble W. Jones, and William 
Young, he was commissioned to prepare and submit 
to the people of Georgia an address containing an 
account of the state of American affairs, and a narra- 
tive of the proceedings of this Provincial Congress. 
This address, which is said to have been framed by Mr. 
Walton, is a model of its kind. 

In defiance of the protest of Governor Wright, Mr. 
Walton and his associates of the Council of Safety 
thoroughly purged the militia of the Loyal element 
which lurked in the ranks of its commissioned officers. 
By a resolution of this Provincial Congress, he was 
continued as a member of the Council of Safety ; and 
of that body he was, in December, 1775, chosen presi- 
dent, with Edward Langworthy as secretary. 

The onward march of the Revolution was rapid and 
irresistible. Everything passed quickl}^ under the do- 
minion of the patriots. Even the Royal Governor, 
escaping from confinement, fled the Province, and 
there was no one left to dispute the supremacy of the 
" Sons of Liberty." 

Archibald Bulloch was elected president of the Pro- 
vincial Congress which assembled in Savannah on the 
20th of January, 1776. That sterling patriot, and 
John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, and 



GEORGE WALTON. 177 

George "Walton were then chosen as Delegates to the 
Continental Congress. To them this official communi- 
cation was addressed : 

" Gentlemen, — Our remote situation from both the 
seat of power and arms keeps us so very ignorant of 
the counsels and ultimate designs of the Congress and 
of the transactions in the field, that we shall decline 
giving any particular instructions other than strongly 
to recommend it to you that you never lose sight of 
the Province ; the Indians, both south and northwest- 
wardly upon our backs ; the fortified town of St. Au- 
gustine, made a continual rendezvous for soldiers in 
our very neighborhood ; together with our blacks and 
Tories with us : let these weighty truths be the power- 
ful arguments for support. At the same time we also 
recommend it to you always to keep in view the gen- 
eral utility, remembering that the great and righteous 
cause in which we are engaged is not provincial, but 
continental. We therefore, gentlemen, shall rely upon 
your patriotism, abilities, firmness, and integrity to 
propose, join, and concur in all such measures as you 
shall think calculated for the common good, and to 
oppose such as shall appear destructive." 

With the exception of an interval in 1779, when he 
filled the gubernatorial chair of Georgia, Mr. Walton 
was continued as a member of the Continental Con- 
gress until October, 1781. In association with Button 
Gwinnett and Lyman Hall he affixed his signature to 
the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the 
Treasury Board, of the Committee on Naval Affiiirs, 
and of other committees, he rendered intelligent and 
willing service. With Robert Morris and George Cly- 
mer he was commissioned to transact such continental 

12 



178 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

business as might be |piud necessary to be done in 
Philadelphia; and George Taylor and himself were 
appointed commissioners to make presents to, and con- 
fer with, the Indians at Easton, Pennsylvania. It was 
upon his motion, in 1780, that the Treasury Board was 
empowered to draw bills of exchange, aggregating 
$100,000 in specie, at ninety days, upon the Honorable 
Benjamin Franklin, Minister Plenipotentiary of the 
United States near the court of Versailles. 

With Edward Telfair and Edward Langworthy, on 
the 9th of July, 1778, he signed the Articles of Con- 
federation ; and on the 17th of the following Decem- 
ber he and Dr. Lyman Hall, as special commissioners 
from Georgia, waited upon General Lincoln at Charles- 
town *• to inform him of the true situation of matters 
in this State, and show how essentially requisite it was 
that some vigorous and decisive measures should be 
taken for its defense against the incursions of its south, 
em neighbors." 

When Colonel Campbell, late in December, 1778, 
effected a landing at Girardeau's Bluff and moved 
upon Savannah, defended by General Robert Howe, 
George Walton, — who then held the rank of Colonel ^ 
of the First Br.ttalion of the First Regiment of Foot 
Militia formed for the defense of Georgia, — with one 
hundred men, was posted on the South Common, on 
the right of the American line, to guard the road lead- 
ing to Great Ogeechee Ferry. Although informed by 
Colonel Walton that there was a private way through 
the swamp, by means of which the enemy could pass 
from the high grounds of Brewton Hill plantation and 

1 Tliis commission was issued by the Honorable Archibald Bulloch, 
then Governor of Georgia, and bears date January 9, 1777, 



GEORGE WALTON. 179 

gain the rear of the American right, and although 
urged by him to have that route properly observed, 
General Howe neglected to give the matter any at- 
tention. The consequence was that Sir James Baird, 
with the Light Infantry, — supported by the New York 
Volunteers under Colonel Trumbull, — conducted by 
a negro guide, following this unguarded route, gained 
the rear of the American right, and, falling heavily 
upon the militia detachment commanded by Colonel 
Walton, dispersed it with great loss. In this shock, 
Colonel Walton, severely wounded in the thigh, fell 
from his horse and was captured. 

At the sound of these guns. Colonel Campbell, run- 
ning his field pieces to the front, opened fire upon the 
brigades of Huger and Elbert, and ordered a vigorous 
charge all along his line. Attacked in front and rear. 
General Howe's forces gave way. A retreat was 
sounded ; a panic ensued ; and the Americans, retreat- 
ing in a disorderly manner through Savannah, made 
their way, as best they could, to the high ground 
beyond the Springfield plantation swamp, leaving the 
town and all that it contained open to the victor. 

By the musket-ball which he received while endeav- 
oring with his militia to stay the onset of Sir James 
Baird, Colonel Walton's thigh was broken. Judge T. 
U. P. Charlton says that he never recovered from the 
effect of this wound, but limped to the day of his 
death. 

The following letter (the original of which lies before 
us), penned with a trembling hand from his couch of 
pain, and addressed to his young wife, will be read 
with interest : — 



ISO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

" Sav.,^^ah, 4 January, 1779, 11 o'clock, p. m. 

" My dear Girl, — I was very happy to hear just this 
moment, by a tlag, that you were safely arrived in 
CaroHna. It is my earnest desire that you keep with 
your sister until you hear from me again. Your dear 
mamma continues still extremely ill at our house, and 
I am afraid that she cannot long survive. 

" The day you left your brother and myself, my 
dear Dolly, in the chances of it I received a wound in 
the thigh. The bone is broke, but cures of this kind 
are quite common. I have every possible comfort 
from my conquerors, — their hospital surgeons to at- 
tend me, with Trail, Irvine, and Brydie. And they 
tell me they expect to see me do well. Be therefore 
of good spirits ; and let me not hear by every flag that 
you are inconsolable, which will only operate to de- 
press mine. At any rate, you ought to recollect that 
in these troublesome times you have no right to ex- 
pect a life of superior tranquillity to your neighbors. 

" My love to Polly. Brisbane is in town, perfectly 
well. I suppose he writes by this flag, tho' I know 
nothing about it, having just been apprised of it my- 
self. 

" God bless you, my dear, and remember that you 
are sincerely loved by a man who wishes to make 
honor and reputation the rule of all his actions. 

"Geo. Walton." 

We reproduce also the following letter from General 
Howe, expressive of his sympathy with the wounded 
officer, and commending him for his gallant conduct 
on this unfortunate occai^ion : — 



GEORGE WALTON. 181 

"Deer 30, 1778. 

" My heart bled for your distress, my dear Walton, 
when I saw you yesterday. The fortitude with which 
you bore it is worthy of yourself. I express to you 
the high approbation I have of your conduct thro' the 
whole military procedure since this alarm happened, 
and in particular in the affair of yesterday, of which I 
can never speak but with applause without acting con- 
trary to the dictates of my heart. Keep up your 
spirits. Inform me how you are, and be assured that 
I am, dear sir, with great regard, 

" Sincerely yours, &c., 

" Robert Howe. 

" P. S. I dare say you will be permitted to write to 
me ; and if you are able, pray do. Is there anything 

in which I can serve you ? 

" Colonel Walton." 

When so far recovered from his hurt as to be able to 
walk. Colonel Walton was allowed to proceed to Sun- 
bury, where for some time he remained a prisoner of 
war. In consideration of the fact that he was a member 
of the Continental Congress, that he had signed the 
Declaration of Independence, and that he was a promi- 
nent citizen, the British authorities at first demanded 
in exchange an officer with the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral. His term of service in the Continental Congress 
having expired, he was finally exchanged for a captain 
in the navy, and proceeded to Augusta, which was 
then the capital of republican Georgia. 

By the General Assembly which convened in that 
town in November, 1779, Colonel Walton was elected 
Governor of the infant Commonwealth. There were 



182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

then two Executive CWincils actually organized and 
claiming to exercise nnportant functions within the 
limits of the State wasted by a common enemy and 
rent by internal feuds. Violent were the collisions of 
parties, and confused was the administration of public 
affairs. Southern Georgia was in the hands of the 
enemy, and the republican government of the upper 
portion of the State was impecunious, weak, and peri- 
patetic. Fortunately, little necessity existed for the 
office either of legislator or of governor. 

During his term of service an episode occurred 
which, in view of the past life of Governor Walton, 
appeared very strange, and militated against his vera- 
city and fair dealing. To this day no satisfactory 
explanation has been offered. His friendship for But- 
ton Gwinnett, and his disappointment both at the 
result of the political contest with Treutlen and the 
unfortunate issue of the duel with Mcintosh, while 
affording ground for strong enmity towards the Gen- 
eral, suggest no justification of the means used to 
undermine his influence and compass his overthrow. 

It will be remembered that in consequence of his 
disagreement and duel with Gwinnett, and the deplor- 
able want of accord between the civil and military 
authorities in Georgia in 1777, General Mcintosh had 
been induced to quit his service at home and seek 
employment in some other quarter. Returning after 
an absence of more than two years, during the siege 
of Savannah and in the bloody assault by the allied 
army upon the British works around that town on the 
morning of the 9th of October, 1779, he had given 
fresh proof of his courage, and of his devotion to State 
and nation. While absent from Georgia he received 



GEORGE WALTON. 183 

a letter from George Walton, in which, commenting 
upon the unfortunate condition of affairs, he said : 
"The demon Discord yet presides in this country, and 
God only knows when his reign will be at an end. I 
have strove so hard to do good with so poor a return, 
that, were the liberties of America secure, I would bid 
adieu to all public employment, to politics, and to 
strife ; for even virtue itself will meet with enmity," 

It was General Mcintosh's hope that time had healed 
all wounds, and that, without reproach, he would be 
permitted to devote his energies and military talents 
to the defense of Georgia. In this expectation he was 
mistaken. On the 30th of November, 1779, a letter 
purporting to be signed by William Glascock, Speaker 
of the Georgia House of Representatives, was transmit- 
ted to the President of the Continental Congress by 
George Walton, Governor of Georgia. Congress was 
therein assured of the dissatisfaction of the people of 
Georgia at the assignment of General Mcintosh to 
the command of the military forces in that State. It 
was earnestly recommended that the national assem- 
bly would, while he remained in commission, indicate 
" some distant field for the exercise of his abilities." 
So thoroughly did this communication — supplemented 
by the representations of General Mcintosh's enemies 
— poison the minds of the members of that body that 
on the 15th of February, 1780, they voted to " dispense 
with the services of Brigadier-General Mcintosh until 
the further order of Congress." 

Informed of this correspondence, General Mcintosh 
promptly demanded an explanation from its alleged 
author. Mr. Glascock at once denied the authenticity 
of the document, and, on the 12th of May, 1780, 



184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

addressed a letter t(^lie President of Congress in 
which he denounced the communication of November, 
1779, as a "flagrant forgery," and disclaimed both 
knowledge and paternity of it. He added : " I am 
glad of the opportunity of informing Congress that 
so far is that forgery from truth, that I believe there 
is not a respectable citizen or officer in Georgia who 
would not be happy in serving under General Mcin- 
tosh ; nor one in either class who would be otiierwise 
except a few who are governed by design or self-inter- 
est." Mr. Glascock also furnished General Mcintosh 
with a copy of this communication. 

Strange as it may appear, an examination into tlie 
matter disclosed tlie fact that the letter to which the 
name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
was forged had been suggested, dictated, and for- 
warded by Governor ^yalton and certain members of 
his Council, with the design of impairing the influence 
of General Mcintosh and compassing his removal from 
military command in Georgia. Whether Governor 
Walton was personally cognizant of the forgery, or 
whether he was deceived and imposed upon by mem- 
bers of his Council who were individually responsible 
for the malevolent act, must remain in doubt. In any 
event, he was instrumental in promoting a nefarious 
scheme, which, fortunately, failed to accomplish the 
unlawful result at Avhicli it aimed. So far from injur- 
ing the popularity and usefulness of the meritorious 
officer whose valuable services were called in question, 
it drew down upon its authors the condemnation of all 
fair-minded people. 

Upon the termination of the Revolutionary War, this 
whole affiiir formed a subject of inquiry and review 



GEORGE WALTON. 185 

by the Georgia Legislature. On the journal of the 
House of Assembly, under date of January 30, 1783, 
appear the following resolutions : — 

" Resolved, that they have examined such papers 
and persons as have been offered by the different par- 
ties, from which it appears that the resolves of Council, 
dated at Augusta, December 12, 1779, and the letter 
from Governor Walton to the President of Congress, 
dated December 15, 1779, respecting General Mcin- 
tosh, were unjust, illiberal, and a misrepresentation of 
facts ; that the letter said to be from William Glascock, 
Speaker of the Assembly, dated November 30, 1779, 
addressed to the President of Congress, appears to be 
a forgery, in violation of law and truth, and highlj^ 
injurious to the interest of the State, and dangerous 
to the rights of its citizens ; and that the Attorney- 
General be ordered to make the necessary inquiries, 
and enter such prosecutions as may be consistent w^ith 
his duty and office. 

" Resolved, that General Mcintosh be informed that 
this House does entertain an abhorrence of all such 
injurious attempts made use of, as appears by the 
papers laid before them, to injure the character of an 
officer and a citizen of this State who merits the atten- 
tion of the Legislature for his early, decided, and per- 
severing efforts in the defense of America, of which 
virtue this House has the highest sense." 

It is a curious fact that the very day before the 
adoption of these resolutions the Legislature had 
elected George Walton Chief Justice of the State of 
Georgia ; thus practically rendering impossible any 
prosecution so far as he was concerned, and intimating 
that he, at least, was not personally responsible for the 



186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

forgery, however mucl^ie may have been instrumen- 
tal m endorsinfj; and orino-ino; it to the notice of the 
Continental Congress. 

Short and imeventful was the gubernatorial career 
of Mr. Walton in 1779. By the ensuing General As- 
sembly Richard Howley was, on the 4th of January, 
1780, elected Governor, and Edward Telfair, George 
Walton, Benjamin Andrew, Lyman Hall, and William 
Few were appointed Delegates to the Continental 
Congress. 

While members of and in attendance upon this Con- 
gress, Messrs. Walton, Few, and Howley apprehended 
that it was the design of the British ministry to submit 
overtures of peace upon the basis of freedom to such 
portions of America as were then in the possession of 
the Revolutionists, and of retention by the Crown of 
such other parts as were actually held by the King's 
forces. As Georgia at that time was largely under 
the dominion of the enemy, deeming it their duty 
promptly and emphatically to protest against acquies- 
cence by the Continental Congress in any such propo- 
sition, they prepared and caused to be printed in Phila- 
delphia, in January, 1781, over their own signatures, 
a pamphlet entitled " Observations upon the Effects of 
certain late Political Suggestions, by the Delegates of 
Georgia." Referring to the fact that Georgia had been 
in great measure reduced by conquest, they entered 
forcible plea against the entertainment of the doctrine 
of uti 2^ossidetis, and urged that inasmuch as the in- 
habitants of that Province had united in the common 
cause, and had expended their blood and fortunes in 
its support, " it would be unjust and inhuman for the 
other parts of the Union separately to embrace the 



GEORGE WALTON. 187 

result of the common efforts, and leava them under the 
yoke of a bankrupt and enraged tyrant." " To pre- 
serve the States entire is the object of the alliance 
with France, and it cannot be the interest of the other 
great branch of the family compact that we should 
again make a part of the British Empire. . . . Georgia 
is a material part of the Union, and cannot be given 
up without affecting its essential interest, if not endan- 
gering its existence. ... As to America, no part of it 
could expect to be long free while Engla.nd retains 
both ends of the continent." 

Whatever may have been the effect of this political 
tract, certain it is that, if memorialized on the subject, 
the Continental Congress declined to entertain the 
rumored basis of pacification. With the authorship 
of this manly protest the pen of Mr. Walton is cred- 
ited. 

In January, 1783, that sterling patriot and worthy 
gentleman. Dr. Lyman Hall, was chosen Governor of 
Georgia, and on the 31st of that month the Honorable 
George Walton was elected to fill the position of Chief 
Justice, with Samuel Stirk as Attorney-General. Geor- 
gia was then divided into eight counties, viz. : Wilkes, 
Richmond, Burke, Efi&ngham, Chatham, Liberty, Glynn, 
and Camden. In each county there were two Associ- 
ate Justices, and it was the duty of the Chief Justice to 
ride the circuit of all the counties. These journeys, as 
they were necessarily performed in stagecoach, private 
conveyance, or on horseback, were tedious and fatigu- 
ing. As illustrative of Chief Justice Walton's charges 
to the grand juries, we select the following, delivered 
in Liberty County : — 



188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

" Gentlemen of the^Jrand Jury, — The order and 
decorum with which the business of the last circuit 
was done in this county did not fail in producing the 
most general satisfaction, besides affording a happy 
presage of the best efforts in future from regular 
courts of justice. And I have now the satisfaction to 
inform you that an ardent desire for a strict execution 
of the laws is prevalent throughout the State. 

" The late amazing augmentation of the number of 
our inhabitants in the Western District will soon give 
a new feature to our political affairs, — a consideration 
which ought to command the earliest attention of our 
elder citizens. In dispensing advantages, the mode 
should be our own. The settlement of the two new 
counties will be extremely advantageous, both on ac- 
count of the addition to our national strength and the 
increase of agriculture. The productions of the lands 
bordering upon the waters of the Alatamaha must, for 
a considerable time, centre in Sunbury ; the rebuilding, 
extension, and improvement of which form an object 
well worthy your attention. It has been devoted to 
suffer by the tempest and at the hands of our late cruel 
enemy; however. Union, Industry, and Perseverance 
will soon recover it. But while we contemplate these 
things, we should examine whether our happiness is 
secured upon a lasting foundation. 

" The number of the inhabitants which conducted 
the late contest, both in the cabinet and the field, to 
its glorious issue will soon be inferior to that which 
will be made up of new residents. Is it not, therefore, 
prudent to consider whether the Constitution — the 
present basis of our laws — was calculated in the pros- 
pect of such an event ? And whether it would not be 



GEORGE WALTON. 189 

wise to model the necessary improvements while in 
our power? The sacrifices we have made for the 
establishment of the liberties of this country should 
neither be forgotten nor their rewards relinquished. 
The people in the counties lying on Savannah River 
are promoting petitions for that end, and I submit the 
example to your discretion and judgment. 

" There is one thing, gentlemen, that I cannot for- 
bear to mention to you in particular, and that is the 
extreme inconvenient periods pointed out for holding 
your courts. To go through the labour of riding and 
attending five successive courts, at the distance of two 
hundred miles from the capital, and then to post down 
forty miles further to Liberty County, is distressing 
indeed, and too much to be punctually performed. I 
would fain hope, therefore, that the people of this 
county will promote the passing of an act authorizing 
the next circuit to begin instead of ending here, which 
will enable the law officers with more ease and cer- 
tainty to perform their duty, and will afford time for 
the trial of appeals which now are or may be made 
merely for a delay of justice. 

" Gentlemen, I have heard of no material infrac- 
tions of the law since the last session. If there have 
been any, the magistrates will furnish the Attorney- 
General with the necessary informations, and they 
shall be duly attended to. Your local evils, if you 
have any, you will please to make known to the public 
by presentment. Geo. Walton. 

"SUNBURY, 13 April, 1784." 

In 1787 Judge Walton was appointed a Delegate 
from the State of Georgia to the Federal Convention 



190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

charged with revising^he Articles of Confederation, 
and reporting such alterations and provisions as might 
be deemed adequate to the emergencies of govern- 
ment and the preservation of the Union. Prevented 
by judicial engagements, he did not attend. The year 
previous he had represented Georgia in the prelimi- 
nary settlement of difTerences touching the boundary 
line between that State and South Carolina. 

In 1789 he occupied for a second time the guberna- 
torial chair. The term of service then lasted for only 
one year. It was during his administration that Geor- 
gia remodeled her Constitution. Augusta was still 
the capital of the State, and it was here that Gov- 
ernor Walton received from the President of the Con- 
stitutional Convention the Constitution then adopted, 
affixed the seal of state to it, and proclaimed its provi- 
sions for the information of the inhabitants. As indi- 
cating the paucity of the population at that time, the 
following printed copies of the newly adopted Consti- 
tution were deemed sufficient for public needs and 
general information in the several counties then com- 
prised within the limits of Georgia : " Ordered, that 
copies of the Constitution be distributed as follows : — 
To Camden County, 26 copies ; to Glynn County, 26 
copies ; to Liberty County, 52 copies ; to Chatham 
County, 70 copies ; to Effingham County, 26 copies ; 
to Burke County, 52 copies ; to Richmond County, 52 
copies ; to Wilkes County, 70 copies ; to Washington 
County, 26 copies ; to Greene County, 26 copies ; and 
to Franklin County, 26 copies." 

With the pacification of the Creek Indians, and with 
the protection of the frontiers of Georgia against their 
depredations, Governor Walton was largely employed. 



GEORGE WALTON. 191 

Upon the occasion of President Washington's visit to 
Augusta in 1791, Judge Walton was Chairman of the 
Reception Committee, and on behalf of the citizens 
prepared and presented the Address of Welcome. It 
was couched in the following complimentary terms : — 

" To THE President of the United States of America : 

•• Sir, — Your journey to the Southward being ex- 
tended to the frontier of the Union, affords a fresh 
proof of your indefatigable zeal in the service of your 
country, and equal attention and regard to all the 
people of the United States. With these impressions, 
the citizens of Augusta present their congratulations 
upon your arrival here in health, with the assurance 
that it will be their greatest pleasure, during your stay 
with them, to testify the sincere affection they have 
for your person, their sense of obligation for your 
merits and for your services, and their entire confi- 
dence in you as the Chief Magistrate of their country. 
On your return, and at all times, their best wishes will 
accompany you, while they maintain the hope that a 
life of virtue, benevolence, and patriotism may be long 
preserved for the benefit of the age and the example 
of posterity." 

To this address the President was pleased to return 
the followinsc answer: — 



'O 



" Gentlemen, — I receive your congratulations on 
my arrival in Augusta with great pleasure. I am 
much obliged by your assurances of regard, and thank 
you with unfeigned sincerity for the favorable senti- 
ments you are pleased to express towards me. 



192 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

" Entreating you t(^^e persuaded of my gratitude, 
I desire to assure you that it will afford me the most 
sensible satisfaction to learn the progression of your 
prosperity. My best wishes for your happiness, collec- 
tively and individually, are sincerely offered." 

In 1795 and 1796 Mr. Walton represented Georgia 
as a Senator in the Congress of the United States. He 
was a member of the Union Society of Savannah, and 
a trustee of the Richmond Academy. As one of the 
first trustees of the University of Georgia, he rendered 
valuable service in formulating plans and adopting 
measures for the promotion of higher education in 
Georgia. 

For many years, and at the time of his death, he 
was Judo;e of the Middle Circuit of this Commonwealth. 
The State was then divided into three judicial districts, 
— the Eastern, the Middle, and the Western. The 
Middle Circuit embraced the following counties : Scre- 
ven, Burke, Montgomery, Washington, Warren, Rich- 
mond, Columbia, and Jefferson. As a judge, few men 
in this Commonwealth ever attained unto, and none 
transcended, the reputation acquired and maintained 
by Mr. Walton. 

Upon the conclusion of peace he established his 
home near Augusta, and there resided until the day of 
his death, spending his winters upon his farm, called 
" Meadow Garden," ^ then on the outskirts of the town, 
and now within the corporate limits of the city, and 
his summers on Mount Salubrity, afterwards known 
as the Sand Hills, and at present within the confines 
of the village of Summerville. 

^ Tlie dwellins-liouse still stands. 



GEORGE WALTON. 193 

During the night of the 2d of February, 1804, Judge 
Walton died suddenly at his winter residence, Meadow 
Garden. For many years he had been a martyr to the 
gout. The death of his eldest son, just entering upon 
manhood, well educated, amiable, and full of promise, 
exerted a depressing influence, and is thought to have 
hastened the demise of his distinguished father! Upon 
the announcement of his dissolution the community 
was profoundly impressed, and united in paying the 
most marked funeral honors. The members of the 
Richmond Bar convened at once, passed complimen- 
tary resolutions, and arrayed themselves in mourning. 
Upon the day appointed for the funeral a procession, 
consisting of 

" The City Marshal, 
The Intendant, 
Members of the City Council, 
The Sheriff of the County of Richmond, 
The Governor of Georgia and his Aids, 
The Secretaries of Departments and Clerks, 
Magistrates and other Public Officers, 
Attendant Physician and Clergymen, 
The Corpse, 
The Pall-bearers, 
The Chief Mourners, 
Members of the Bar, 
Trustees of the Richmond Academy, 
Rector, Assistants, and Pupils, 

Citizens walking two and two. 

The Company of Rangers, and 

The Artillery firing Minute Guns," 

moved from Meadow Garden through the streets of 
Augusta and to the family cemetery of Colonel Robert 
Watkins at Rosney, where the remains of the honored 
dead were interred. Nothing was omitted which could 

13 



194 BIOGRArillCAL SKETCHES. 

lend dignity and sol^wiity to the demonstration, or 
evidence the general sorrow at the departure of this 
illustrious citizen. Here the bones of Judge Walton 
rested until their removal in 1848, when, in associa- 
tion with those of the Honorable Lyman Hall, they 
were inhumed beneath the monument in Greene 
Street, in front of the Court House, in Augusta, Geor- 
gia, erected by patriotic hands in memory of the Sign- 
ers from this Commonwealth of the Declaration of 
Independence. The corner stone was laid on the 4tli 
of July in that year by the Masonic Fraternity with 
appropriate rites. Eloquent addresses were delivered 
by the Honorable William C. Dawson and by William 
T. Gould, Esquire. 

The purpose was to locate beneath this monument 
the bones of all the Signers from Georgia, but the 
orrave of Button Gwinnett, — who received his mortal 
hurt in the duel with General Lachlan Mcintosh in 
1777, — although believed to be in the old cemetery 
on South Broad Street, in Savannah, being without a 
stone could not be identified. The remains of Dr. 
Lyman Hall were readily obtained from the brick vault 
on his plantation near Shell Bluff, in Burke County. 
Parties were still in life who could point out the grave 
of Governor Walton in the Rosney cemetery, although 
unmarked by a monument, and in removing his bones 
the trace of the ball which shattered his thigh in 1778 
was still apparent in the osseous structure, and in the 
effort which nature had made to repair the injury then 
sustained. Dr. I. P. Garvin, Mayor, and Councilmen Dr. 
L. A. Dugas, Benjamin Conley, and G. F. Parish consti- 
tuted the committee from the City Council of Augusta 
charged with the collection of the bones of the Signers, 



GEORGE WALTON. 195 

their reinterment, and the erection of the memorial 
shaft above them. 

After describing the events which rendered the ob- 
servance of the 4th of July, 1848, memorable in the 
history of Angusta, the editor of "The Constitutionalist" 
newspaper concludes with these patriotic sentiments: — 

" We cannot close this notice without alluding to the 
interestino; fact that the honored dust of two of the 
Signers of the Declaration of Independence, born in 
distant sections of the Union, now repose harmoniously 
together under the stone which marks a spot in our 
city forever sacred and hallowed. 

" Let it speak a monitory voice amidst the fiercest 
strifes of party, and in the rising heats of sectional 
animosities which so fearfully threaten the destruction 
of the good work those immortal patriots so nobly 
planned. Let it act like a talisman to still the boiling 
passions and to quiet the blind rage of party. 

"Lyman Hall was from the land of the Pilgrim 
Fathers. He was a native of Connecticut. He made 
his home upon Georgia soil, and proved himself a 
useful and patriotic citizen. His adopted State ever 
delighted to honor him Avhile living, and gratefully 
embalms his memory. 

" George Walton also came from another Colony to 
Georgia while she was yet struggling in her infancy. 
He was a native of the Old Dominion, — of Frederick 
County, Virginia. Thus does it seem that in the days 
that tried men's souls there were patriots from every 
section of the Old Union, one in principle, one in 
feeling, though various skies smiled on their birth; 
and, as a band of brothers, they wrought out for us a 
heritao;e of Freedom for which we owe them a common 
debt of gratitude." 



196 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

It is rather «a singul|pfact that Judge Walton, who 
for so many years recognized the expediency of wills 
and administered the laws appertaining to them, died 
intestate. Upon lier application, submitted on the 2d 
of April, 1804, administration upon his estate was 
granted to his widow, her bond being fixed at the sum 
of twenty-five thousand dollars. 

Alluding to the services rendered and the honors 
won by Judge Walton, the author of the sketch in 
Sanderson's " Biography of the Signers to the Declara- 
tion of Independence " says : " There are indeed few 
men in the United States upon whom more extensive 
and solid proofs of public confidence have been lavished. 
He was six times elected a Representative to Congress, 
twice Governor of the State, once a Senator of the 
United States, and four times Judge of the Superior 
Courts; the latter office he held during fifteen years 
and until the day of his death. He was one of the 
Commissioners on the part of the United States to 
negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in Ten- 
nessee, and several times a member of the State Legis- 
lature." He should have added that he was also Chief 
Justice of Georgia. 

In every station he was capable and conscientious, 
observant of the trust reposed, and conspicuous in the 
careful discharge of the appurtenant duties. As an 
officer of the militia he was prompt and energetic, 
displaying great gallantry in the presence of the 
enemy. As a citizen he was alert, public-spirited, firm 
in his convictions, and courageous in the advocacy of 
right and liberty. Warm in his attachments, he did 
not hesitate to avow his enmities. 

Indulging in no temporizing policy, he was manlj^ 



GEORGE WALTON. 197 

and open in his affiliations and in his dislikes. Stern 
in his conceptions of right and duty, he was by nature 
aristocratic in his sentiments, and pandered not to the 
whims of the milgiis commune. In no degree was he 
either a time-server or a suppliant for popular favor. 
Merit he recognized and encouraged. Learning and 
talent he held in special esteem. Of quick temper, 
and entertaining a nice conception of the proprieties 
of the occasion, he insisted upon a strict observance of 
the respect due to station, and suffered neither neglect 
nor slight at the hands of subordinates. In conversa- 
tion he was terse, being partial to short and compre- 
hensive expressions. Satire he often employed with 
marked effect. 

Generous in his mode of living, much given to study, 
and neglectful of regular exercise, before he attained 
unto middle life he became subject to attacks of gout 
which grew more frequent and violent as he advanced 
in years, engendering much suffering, and in the end 
proving the cause of his death. He often remarked to 
his physician that an entertaining volume was the most 
effectual remedy for this malady. Of the society of 
students and the well informed he was fond, and it was 
his delight to lead youthful minds in the paths of 
knowledge ; or, as he expressed it, " to put the young 
beagles upon the track in the chase." 

Among those who pursued their legal studies under 
his immediate counsel and instruction may be men- 
tioned the Honorable James Jackson, afterwards United 
States Senator from and Governor of Georgia.^ 

Seldom exempt from the claims of public affairs, he 
evinced little desire for the accumulation of wealth. 

^ T. U. P. Charlton's Life of Major-General James Jackson, p. 49. Au- 
gusta, Georgia, 1809. 



198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

His salary, supplements^ by a small income from his 
farm, sufficed for the comfortable maintenance of him- 
self and family. When not engaged in the discharge 
of official duties he spent most of his time in his study. 
His books were his constant and his favorite compan- 
ions. " Come, my best friends, my books, and lead me 
on," seemed his ever-recurring salutation. His early 
thirst for knowledge remained unabated until the end 
of his life. 

Only one son — George Walton, commissioned Sec- 
ond Lieutenant in the Second Regiment of Light Artil- 
lery in May, 1808 — survived him. While a resident 
of Pensacola he received, on the 17th of May, 1822, 
from Andrew Jackson, the appointment of " Secretary 
in and for the Territory of East Florida." He subse- 
quently removed to Mobile, Alabama. He was the 
father of Octavia Walton, who, as Madame Le Vert, 
attained prominence in the social and literary world. 

Comely in person, dignified and reserved in his 
manners. Judge Walton was a marked personage in 
any assembly. Of his features excellent memory has 
been preserved by a miniature painted by the elder 
Peale, now treasured by the Signer's great-great-grand- 
son. Master George Walton Reab, of Summerville, near 
Auo:usta, Georg-ia. It was from this likeness that the 
engraved portrait was made which forms one of the 
illustrations of the writer's second volume of the " His- 
tory of Georgia." 

This Commonwealth has named one of her counties 
in honor of this patriot, who, as soldier, statesman, judge, 
legislator, senator, governor, and signer, rendered ser- 
vice varied and most valuable, leaving an impress 
upon his age and generation which has suffered no 
oblivion at the hands of intervening years. 



JOHN WALTON. 

With regard to this member of the old Congress 
we have been able to gather but little information. 
A brother of the Honorable George Walton, he was 
born in Virginia about 1738. To the Provincial Con- 
gress which assembled at Savannah on the 4th of July, 
1775, he was a Delegate representing the Parish of St. 
Paul. On the 20th of July of the previous year, in 
association with Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, 
and John Iloustoun, he signed the public call which 
convoked the liberty-loving citizens of Georgia, under 
the eye and in defiance of the protest of the Royal 
Governor. Of the Executive Council, chosen when 
John Adam Treutlen was elected first Republican Gov- 
ernor, he was a member. By the General Assembly of 
Georgia Mr. Walton was, on the 2Gth of February, 
1778, commissioned as a Delegate to the Continental 
Congress. 

His home was then at New Savannah, situated in 
the county of Richmond, on the Savannah River, not 
many miles below the town of Augusta. Here he 
owned and cultivated a plantation, the principal market 
crop of which was indigo. As we write, one of his let- 
ters lies before us, written from this place, dated on 
the 21st of January, 1777, and addressed to the Honor- 
able Edward Telfair. In this communication Mr. Walton 
advises that gentleman of a shipment of indigo he had 
recently made to him, and bespeaks his best efforts in 
effecting advantageous sale of the consignment. 



200 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

For a number of ye^^Mr. Walton held the office of 
Surveyor of Richmond County. He died at New Sa- 
vannah in 1783. His will is now of file in the Ordi- 
nary's Office in Augusta. It is dated the 11th of June, 
1778, and was admitted to probate on the 24th of 
June, 1783. George Walton, William Glascock, and 
Britton Dawson were named as executors. He left a 
considerable estate, consisting of lands and negroes. 
The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Claiborne. 
Several children were born of this marriage, and their 
descendants may be found in Georgia to the present 
day. 



JOSEPH WOOD. 

He is said to have been a Pennsylvanian by birth. 
In 1774 he was a resident of the town of Sunbury, in 
the Parish of St. John and State of Georgia. Repudi- 
ating the conclusions of the Provincial meeting of the 
10th of August, 1774, which, although patriotic in then- 
character, did not culminate in placing Georgia in full 
affiliation with her twelve sisters and in commissioning: 
Delegates to the Continental Congress, the inhabitants 
of the Parish of St. John resolved to act independently 
and in advance of the rest of the Colony. On the 9th 
of February, Joseph Wood, Daniel Roberts, and Sam- 
uel Stevens — members of the Parish committee — were 
deputed with a carefully prepared letter to repair to 
Charlestown and request of the Committee of Corre- 
spondence their " permission to form an alliance with 
them, and to conduct trade and commerce accordino; to 
the act of non-importation to which they had already 
acceded." 

Reaching Charlestown on the 23d of February, 
Messrs. Wood, Roberts, and Stevens waited upon the 
General Committee and earnestly endeavored to accom- 
plish their mission. While admiring the patriotism of 
the Parish, and entreating its citizens to persevere in 
their laudable exertions, the Carolinians, deeming it " a 
violation of the Continental Association to remove the 
prohibition in favor of any part of a Province," declined 
the application. 



202 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Notliing claunted, tl^inhabitcants of St. John's Par- 
ish "resolved to prosecute their claims to an equality 
with the Confederated Colonies," and commissioned 
Dr. Lyman Hall to represent them in the Continental 
Congress. Returning to Pennsylvania during the early 
portion of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Wood entered 
the Continental service with the Second Pennsylvania 
Regiment. His promotion was rapid. He was advanced 
to a Majority on the 4th of January, 1776, to a Lieu- 
tenant-Colonelcy on the 29th of July in the same year, 
and to a full Colonelcy on the 7th of September, 1776. 

Toward the close of that year. Colonel Wood was 
again in Georgia, where he was cordially welcomed. In 
January, 1777, he was elected a Delegate from Georgia 
to the Continental Congress, and this compliment was 
repeated in February of the following year. 

His plantation was on North New Port River, not far 
from the village of Riceboro, in Liberty County (for- 
merly St. John's Parish). The tradition of Colonel 
Wood's unblemished life and manly virtues still lingers 
in the community. Joseph Wood departed this life at 
his plantation in Liberty County, Georgia, in 1791. 
His will was probated on the 2d of October in that 
year. His widow, Catholina, two sons, John and Jacob, 
and two daughters, Hester and Elizabeth, are therein 
named as legatees and devisees. 



JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 

A NATIVE of St. Gall, Switzerland, where he was born 
on the 27th of August, 1724, Mr. Zubly was engaged 
in the discharge of clerical duties at Wando Neck, in 
the Province of South Carolina, when, on the 25th of 
April, 1768, he received and accepted a call to a large 
and influential Presbyterian congregation in Savannah, 
Georgia. It was not, however, until 1760 that he en- 
tered fully upon his pastoral charge of that Independent 
Presbyterian Church. He was a clergyman of marked 
ability, eloquence, and learning ; preaching with equal 
ease and power in the German, French, and English 
languages. A rigid disciple of Calvin, he was tireless 
in the discharge of his professional labors. Under his 
guidance, his congregation became the most numerous 
and popular within the limits of Georgia. In 1770 he 
was complimented by Princeton College with the de- 
gree of Doctor of Divinity. 

By an act of the Colonial Legislature, approved on 
the 17th of March, 1758, Georgia was divided into 
Parishes, and the patronage of the Crown was specially 
extended in aid of churches professing the Episcopal 
faith. While not favored by exclusive recognition, the 
purpose appeared to be to accord to that denomina- 
tion, within the limits of Georgia, a prestige akin to 
that which the Church of England enjoyed within 
the realm ; to create certain offices and provide emolu- 
ments for the encouragement of that religious persua- 



204 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

sion, and the extensic^of the gospel in accordance 
with its forms of worship and mode of government ; 
and to prescribe a method by which faithful registers 
of births, marriages, christenings, and deaths might be 
kept and perpetuated. Numerous were the Dissenters 
then in the Province. They were represented by Pres- 
byterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Methodists, 
a few Baptists, and some Hebrews. To all sects save 
Papists was free toleration accorded ; and whenever a 
Dissenting congregation organized and applied for a 
grant of land whereon to build a church, the petition 
did not pass unheeded. There can be no doubt, how- 
ever, that it was the intention of the Government, 
both Royal and Colonial, to engraft the Church of Eng- 
land upon the Province, and, within certain limits, 
to advance its prosperity and insure its permanency. 
At the same time an adherence to its rubrics w\as in no 
wise made a condition precedent to political preferment. 
Despite the advantage thus enjoyed by the Episco- 
pal Church, so popular was Mr. Zubly as a preacher, 
and so acceptable were his ministrations, that he soon 
attracted many of the leading citizens of Savannah. 
So catholic were his views, so pronounced was the 
interest which he exhibited in public affairs, and so 
manifest were his sympathies with the protestants 
against the arbitrary acts of Parliament that his influ- 
ence as a citizen and a lover of liberty was felt beyond 
the limits of his pulpit and congregation. As a com- 
pliment to the man, and to the position which he then 
occupied, he was elected a Delegate to the Provincial 
Congress which assembled in Savannah on the 4th 
of July, 1775. Before and at the opening of that 
Congress, he delivered a sermon on American affairs, 



JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 205 

entitled " The Law of Liberty," which may be accepted 
as a fair specimen of the composition and manly thought 
of this eloquent and accomplished divine. When 
printed by Henry Miller, of Philadelphia, it was pre- 
faced by a forcible and conclusive plea for the liberties 
of America, embodied in a communication addressed 
by Mr. Zubly to the Right Honorable the Earl of Dart- 
mouth. 

By this Congress Dr. Zubly, in association with John 
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, Noble W. Jones, and Dr. 
Lyman Hall, was chosen to represent the Province of 
Georgia in the Continental Congress. Upon a sugges- 
tion from him that he was greatly surprised at being 
selected as a Delegate, and that he could not accept 
the honor without the consent of his congregation, 
Messrs. Noble W. Jones and John Houstoun were ap- 
pointed a committee to interview the members of Dr. 
Zubly's church and request their permission that he 
absent himself from his charge for a season, in order 
that he might perform the important duties devolved 
upon him by the Congress. Four days afterwards those 
gentlemen reported that they had conferred with the 
congregation, and that the members expressed a wil- 
lingness " to spare their minister for a time for the good 
of the common cause." Dr. Zubly thereupon declared 
his acceptance of the appointment, and thanked the 
Congress for this mark of honor and confidence. 

By this Congress the Reverend Doctor Zubly was 
placed upon four important committees, — one to pre- 
pare a petition to the King " upon the present un- 
happy situation of affairs ; " another to address a letter 
to the President of the Continental Congress, acquaint- 
ing him fully with the proceedings of this Provincial 



206 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Congress; a third to f^Mie an address to His Excel- 
lency Governor Wright ; and a fourth to constitute a 
Committee of Intelligence. 

From the addresses then prepared we reproduce the 
following : — 

" To THE Inhabitants of the Province of Georgia : 

"■ Fellow-Countrymen, — We are directed to transmit 
to you an account of the present state of American 
affairs, as well as the proceedings of the late Provincial 
Congress. 

'•' It is with great sorrow we are to acquaint you 
that what our fears sug-o-ested, but our reason thou^rht 
impossible, is actually come to pass. 

" A civil war in America is begun. Several engage- 
ments have already happened. The friends and foes 
of America have been equally disappointed. The 
friends of America were in hopes British troops could 
never be induced to slay their brethren. It is, how- 
ever, done, and the circumstances are such as must be 
an everlasting blot on their character for humanity and 
generosity. An unfeeling commander has found means 
to inspire his troops with the same evil spirit that 
possesseth himself. After the starving, helj^less, inno- 
cent inhabitants of Boston delivered up their arms and 
received his promise that they might leave that virtu- 
ous, devoted town, he is said to have broke his word ; 
and the wretched inhabitants are still kept to fall a 
prey to disease, famine, and confinement. If there are 
powers which abhor injustice and oppression, it may 
be hoped such perfidy cannot go long unpunished. 

" But the enemies of America have been no less dis- 
appointed. Nothing was so contemptible in their eyes 



JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 207 

as the rabble of an American militia; nothing more 
improbable than that they would dare to look regulars 
in the face, or stand a single fire. By this time they 
must have felt how much they were mistaken. In 
every engagement the Americans appeared with a 
bravery worthy of men that fight for the liberties of 
their oppressed country. Their success has been re- 
markable ; the number of the slain and wounded on 
every occasion vastly exceeded theirs ; and the advan- 
tages they gained are the more honourable because, 
with a patience that scarce has an example, they bore 
every act of injustice and insult till their lives were 
attacked, and then gave the fullest proof that the man 
of calmness and moderation in counsel is usually the 
most intrepid and courageous in battle. 

"You will doubtless lament with us the hundreds 
that died in their country's cause ; but does it not call 
for greater sorrow that thousands of British soldiers 
sought and found their deaths when they were active 
to enslave their brethren and their country ? How- 
ever irritating all these proceedings, yet so unnatural 
is this quarrel that every good man must wish and 
pray that it may soon cease ; that the injured rights 
of America may be vindicated by milder means ; and 
that no more blood may be shed, unless it be of those 
who fomented, and mean to make an advantage of, 
these unhappy divisions. 

" From the proceedings of the Congress, a copy of 
which accompanies the present, you will be convinced 
that a reconciliation on honorable principles is an 
object which your Delegates never lost sight of. We 
have sent an humble and manly petition to his Ma- 
jesty ; addressed his representative, our Governor ; pro- 



208 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

vided, as far as in oi^power, for internal quiet and 
safety; and Delegates will soon attend the General 
Congress to assist and cooperate in any measure that 
shall be thought necessary for the saving of America. 

" His Excellency, at our request, having appointed 
the 19th inst. as a Day of Humiliation, and news being 
afterwards received that the Continental Congress had 
recommended the 20th inst. to be observed as sucli, 
both days have been observed with a becoming solem- 
nity ; and we humbly hope many earnest prayers have 
been presented to the Father of Mercies on that day 
through this extensive continent, and that He has 
heard the cries of the destitute, and will not despise 
their prayers. 

"You will permit us most earnestly to recommend 
to you a steady perseverance in the cause of Liberty, 
and that you will use all possible caution not to say 
or do anything unworthy of so glorious a cause ; to 
promote frugality, peace, and good order ; and, in the 
practice of every social and religious duty, patiently 
to wait the return of that happy day when we may 
quietly sit under our vine and fig-tree, and no man 
make us afraid." 

We make no apology for presenting this address in 
extenso, because with its composition the pen of Dr. 
Zubly is credited, and because it shows how earnestly, 
at this epoch in his career, his sympathies were en- 
listed in behalf of American freedom. 

Of the five Delegates thus selected by the Provincial 
Congress to represent Georgia in the Continental Con- 
gress, Messrs. Zubly, Bulloch, and Houstouu repaired 
to Philadelphia, and participated in the deliberations 



JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 209 

of that body, at an adjourned session held in Septem- 
ber. Dr. Lyman Hall, who had been present at a 
previous meeting as a Delegate commissioned by the 
Parish of St. Paul, was now absent ; and Dr. Noble W. 
Jones, than whom the " Sons of Liberty " claimed none 
more competent, courageous, and accomplished, — in 
deference to the entreaties of his aged father. Colonel 
Noble Jones, a faithful servant of the Crown, who, 
trembling upon the verge of the grave, bespoke the 
companionship of his distinguished and devoted son, 
— postponed for the while his service to the Province 
in this prominent capacity, that he might respond to 
his filial obligations, 

Georgia was ably represented. From the inception 
of the disagreements between Great Britain and her 
American Colonies, Archibald Bulloch had been a firm 
friend to the liberties of America. No one stood 
higher in the respect and affection of his fellow-citi- 
zens, and for him the most pronounced honors were 
in store. John Houstoun, too, was among the most 
zealous advocates of the rights of the Colonies. Of 
honorable descent and liberal education, of admitted 
bravery and commanding influence, his memory is as- 
sociated with some of the best traditions of the epoch, 
and of the community in which he dwelt. 

Of the early labors of the Reverend Dr. Zubly in 
the cause of freedom, education, and religion, we may 
not speak except in praise. His course in the first 
Continental Congress which he attended was consis- 
tent and patriotic. The acceptable pastor of a large 
Presbyterian congregation in Savannah, — scholarly, 
gifted in speech, public-spirited, and of marked abil- 
ity, — his voice and pen had been freely employed in 



14 



210 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the vindication of the^ghts of the Colonies against 
the encroachments of Parliament. Discussing the sug- 
gestions made in England to arm the slaves in order 
to reduce their masters to obedience to British rule, he 
wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth as follows : " Proposals 
publicly made by ministerial writers relative to Ameri- 
can domestics laid the Southern Provinces under the 
necessity of arming themselves. A proposal to put it 
in the power of domestics to cut the throats of their 
masters can only serve to cover the proposers and 
abettors with everlasting infamy. The Americans 
have been called ' a rope of sand,' but hlood and sand 
will make a firm cementation ; and enough American 
blood has been already shed to cement them together 
into a threefold cord not easily to be broken." In 
the deliberations and utterances of the Provincial 
Congress in Savannah no member had borne a more 
prominent part. 

When, however, at a subsequent session of the Con- 
tinental Congress, he found himself confronted with a 
determination on the part of its members to sever the 
ties binding the American Colonies to the Mother 
Country, and to erect on these shores a separate, inde- 
pendent, and republican confederation, his heart failed 
him, and, opening a correspondence with Sir James 
Wright, he revealed to him the plans of Congress, and 
warned him of the impending rupture. His conduct 
and language exciting suspicion, he was watched, and 
one of his treasonable letters was seized. This fact was 
brought to the notice of Congress by Mr. Chase, of 
Maryland. So alarmed became Dr. Zubly that, precip- 
itately abandoning his seat, he returned to Georgia, 
where, taking sides against the liberty people, he 



MAR 241950 



JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 211 

became so obnoxious that, in 1777, be was banished 
from Savannah, with the loss of half his estate. Taking 
refuge in South Carolina, he there remained until the 
Royal government was, in 1779, reestablished in South- 
ern Georgia. Then, returning to Savannah, he re- 
sumed his ministerial labors, and there abode until his 
death, which occurred on the 23d of July, 1781. Bro- 
ken in heart and fortune, the latest years of his life 
involved a ceaseless struggle with misfortune. " His 
political defection," says Dr. Stevens, " while it did no 
harm to Georgia or the Colonies, brought misery upon 
himself and family, and tarnished a name which shone 
among the earlier patriots of Georgia with peculiar 
brightness. Savannah still bears the record of this 
learned man in the names of two of its streets, ' Joa- 
chim ' and ' Zubly,' and one of the hamlets of the city 
is called ^ St. Gall/ in honor of his birthplace in Swit- 
zerland." 

His declaration, in his place in the Continental Con- 
gress, that " a republic was little better than a gov- 
ernment of devils," and his subsequent desertion of 
his post to seek shelter under the authority of the 
Crown, were but the prelude to unhappiness, disgrace, 
and an early grave. 

There was an oil portrait of this member of the Old 
Congress, but unfortunately, many years ago, it was 
accidentally destroyed by fire. 



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